Son Heung-min’s Tottenham Hotspur will play a friendly match with Team K League at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam, Seoul as part of the Coupang Play series at 8 p.m. on the 31st (Wednesday).
This is the second face-to-face confrontation. Tottenham visited Korea with Son for the first time in 2020 and secured a 6-3 victory by scoring two goals in a friendly match with his team in the K-League. They will have a showdown again in two years.
The away team Tottenham Hotspur showed disappointing performance last season. In the league, the team ranked fifth with a winning rate of 53 percent per game with 20 wins, six draws and 12 losses from 38 matches. It failed to advance to the UEFA Champions League.
The team failed to win the title. The FA Cup and the Carabao Cup were eliminated in the round of 32 and 48, respectively. Overall, the team had 21 wins out of 41 matches, showing a 51.28 percent winning rate per match.
The top scorer in his team was “Ketin” Son Heung-min (17 points). Prior to the start of the last season, Son was appointed as the new captain of the team, succeeding the late Lloris. The 2002–24 season was the first with new captain Son and new coach Engie Postecoglou.
Tottenham will face off against Team K League with its young capabilities. Starting with Lucas Veribal, who was known for his good looks and skills, young players including Archie Gray, Mikey Moore, and Will Rankshire were included in the list. “I don’t feel good about myself getting older when I see a young team or a new young player being recruited,” Son said in an official press conference held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday. “These young players are doing their best in every training session.”
I don’t want to call it a friendly match. “We were very welcomed. I know how respected Son is in his country, and it is a privilege to be able to share this,” Postecoglou said. “I will definitely repay your support with good performance.”
The K-League, the home team, had bad luck even before the game began. Jesse Lingard, a former member of the English and Premier League Manchester United who joined FC Seoul last season, and Ki Sung-yueng, a former captain of the Korean national soccer team and a former Premier Leaguer, cannot join the match due to injury. Both players are included in the 22-member roster, but they will not be able to meet due to injury. Jeong Ho-yeon and Auberdan have been selected as substitutes for the two players, respectively.
Park Tae-ha (56) is the coach of Team K-League. He is the coach of Pohang Steelers of the K-League 1. Pohang is ranked second in this season’s league with 12 wins, eight draws, five losses and 44 points out of 25 matches.
In particular, the team has a high rate of away wins. It has seven wins, two draws and four losses in away matches that it has played for 13 times, recording 54 percent of win per game. This is the highest rate of away wins among the 12 teams in the K League 1 this season.
Players who would be disappointed if they do not have one now are also on the list. Joo Min-kyu (34, Ulsan HD), Cho Hyun-woo (32, Ulsan HD), and Lee Seung-woo (26, Jeonbuk Hyundai) have been selected for three consecutive K-League starts so far. Cesinha (34, Daegu FC) is also the third, but his participation in the 2022 World Cup finals was canceled due to injury.
His interest is in Yang. He is the current symbol of Korean soccer and the captain of both teams. Yang is the next-generation ace who will succeed him. As he is 18, he has eight goals and four assists in 24 games for Gangwon FC in the first division of his debut season as a pro player. Tottenham recognized this talent and recruited him.
Son Heung-min said, “I had a short talk with Minhyuk. I had some things to do in my team before coming, and I advised him to prepare in England. I told him not to get hurt and meet him in January as he is good at both training and games.”메이저놀이터
Tottenham will not leave Korea immediately after the match against Team K League. It will also face German giants Bayern Munich, where Kim Min-jae belongs, in Korea on the upcoming 3rd (Saturday).