Stark contrast between Asia’s big guns as Son’s side stall while Samurai Blue revel in 7-0 and 5-0 wins
It may be overly simplistic to say that South Korea are Asia’s Manchester United while Japan are the continent’s equivalent of Manchester City but there is more to it than the red and blue shirts. The first two games of the third – and decisive – round of World Cup qualification have reinforced the feeling that while the Koreans rely on their star players delivering in the big moments, the Samurai Blue are a well-oiled winning machine.
Son Heung-min certainly shone in a much-needed 3-1 win in Oman on Tuesday, scoring one and making the other two in this Group B fixture. Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chanclaimed the first as Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain pulled the strings. With Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae the rock in defence, there is a star-studded spine that even some of those teams ranked higher than Korea’s 23 would welcome.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/sep/11/japan-south-korea-world-cup-asia-qualifying
Author : John Duerden
Publish date : 2024-09-11 09:24:07
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