Coach Hong Myung-bo is looking for defensive midfielder Hwang In-beom's partner in the K League
Coach Hong Myung-bo is looking for defensive midfielder Hwang In-beom's partner in the K League
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As defensive midfielder positions are pointed out as the "weak link" of the national soccer team, K-leaguers in this position are emerging as alternatives.
According to the national team on the 2nd, Hong is visiting the K League 1 stadium every week to find players to use in the last two Asian qualifiers for the 2026 North-China World Cup and the East Asian Football Confederation (EAFF) E-1 Championship in Yongin in early July.
On the 3rd, the "Golden Weekend," he will also visit the Seoul World Cup Stadium to watch the match between FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai.
Hong's most closely watched position is the "defensive midfielder" position paired with "engine" Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord).
In seven of the eight third qualifying games, Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) has been in place for almost full-time.
However, even though he played in compliance, he sometimes made decisive mistakes, shaking his position over time.
In the 8th game against Jordan in March, the latest match, Park Yong-woo's mistake, which lost the ball in the midfield, led to an equalizer loss, and Hong Myung-bo had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Won Doo-jae (Corpacan) and Jung Ho-yeon (Minnesota) were selected for the national team as players to play in this position, but no one gave Hong a clear belief.
Won Doo-jae, who plays for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is said to have not performed as well as before. He was called by Hong during the A-match in March, but sat only on the bench in both games.
After recently moving to Minnesota United in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS), Jung Ho-yeon has not played for a while, but only made her debut on the 27th, so she has to wait and see.
An official of the national team said, "Coach Hong was also closely watching Jens Kastrov (Nuremberg), a German mixed-race defensive midfielder who showed an active will to naturalize, but it is difficult to select the national team from June to July as he injured his knee ligament."
Naturally, coach Hong's eyes are bound to be on the defensive midfielders of the "domestic team."
In the East Asian Cup, where there is no obligation to select an A match, players in the K-League have to draw up a list based on domestic players anyway, so this May-June is a great opportunity for coach Hong to see.
Jeonbuk Hyundai's Park Jin-seop (29) is mentioned as a domestic defensive midfielder who performs remarkably well.
Jeonbuk has been undefeated in six league games (four wins and two draws), including two consecutive wins.
Although the offense with Compagno and Jeon Jin-woo is drawing attention, it would have been difficult to produce if the solid defense with Park Jin-seop was not the basis. 스포츠토토
If Park Jin-seop's soccer intelligence, cutting, and competition ability to read the flow of opponent's attacks are his strengths, his slow feet have been considered a disadvantage, but unlike Jeonbuk, the national team has a fast center back named Kim Min-jae (Munhen).
In other words, Park Jin-seop's strengths can be relatively more prominent in the national team.
In addition to defensive midfielders, Park Jin-seop's charm is that he is a "multi-player" who can both call the center back a "main position."