*This content was translated by AI.
Hong Myung-bo, the coach of the national soccer team, who was in a tight spot due to the 0-4 defeat against Ivory Coast, predicted the best start in Austria's away warm-up match.
Asked whether Son Heung-min (LAFC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz 05) will start at an official press conference in Vienna, Austria on the 31st (Korea time), head coach Hong Myung-bo said, "I think all players will play in tomorrow's game as a whole." The match against Austria will be held in Vienna, Austria, at 3:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month.
Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in played as substitute in the 13th minute of the second half during the warm-up match against Ivory Coast in Miltonkins, England, on the 28th, and Lee Jae-sung did not play as a substitute. Instead, the offense against Ivory Coast was composed of Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) and Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) on both sides, centering on Oh Hyun-kyu (Besiktashi).
Head coach Hong Myung-bo said, "These players (Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, and Lee Jae-sung) were not able to play as starters, so we excluded them (from the starting lineup) and adjusted their time," but he weighed in on the possibility of starting against Austria.
In addition to them, head coach Hong Myung-bo is expected to start with Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City) and Lee Tae-seok (Austria Vienna), who had limited time to play in the last match against Ivory Coast, and maintain the starting lineup of key players such as Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Seol Young-woo (Zrvena Zvezda).
Since it is urgent to change the atmosphere due to the defeat against Ivory Coast and it is the last warm-up match before the announcement of the final entry of the World Cup, he is determined to do his best to catch both the performance and the result. Coach Hong Myung-bo said, "It's the last warm-up match before the World Cup, and the players didn't recover completely in the game two days ago, but we'll prepare well so that we can get a good result in the last game."
On the other hand, against South Korea / vs. Korea, the Austrian national soccer team, which won a 5-1 victory in its first warm-up match against Ghana earlier, seems to be weighing on the possibility of a "rotation." While some of the players excluded from the last selection against Ghana will start instead in against South Korea / vs. Korea, those who remain injured are expected to have limited time to play.
Austrian media Der Standart said, "Conrat Reimer (Bayern Munich), Ksaber Schlager (Leifchich), who rested in the match against Ghana, and Patrick Beamer (Wolfsburg), who was replaced at the time, are expected to start the against South Korea / vs. Korea. Tobias Laval (Henk), Aleksandro Schöf (Wolfsberger), and Maximilian Woeber (Verder Bremen), who are injured, will be absent."
The media predicted a 4-2-3-1 starting lineup in which Austria will have Marco Arnautovic (Trvena Zvezda) as the front-line striker and Marcel Zavicha (Dortmund), Christoph Baumgartner (Lewich) and Bimmer in the second line. In the midfield, Reimer and Schlager work together.
The media predicted that Alexander Pras (Hofenheim), Kevin Danso (Tottenham), Philippe Linhardt (Freiburg) and Stefan Poche (Mainz05) will defend the defense line, and Patric Pentz (Bronby) will defend the goal. Real Madrid defender and Austrian national team captain David Alaba, who was originally expected to rest, is also expected to play on the ground for 20-25 minutes.
Ralf Rangnick, head coach of the Austrian national team, said, "I expect South Korea to show better performance (than the last match against Ivory Coast). We will not easily score three to four goals, he said. "We will give as many players as possible a chance to play (in against South Korea / vs. Korea)." The game can be replaced by up to 11 players according to the agreement between the two teams.
As of January, South Korea ranked 22nd and Austria 24th, two places higher than South Korea. This is the first time the two teams have faced off. For Hong Myung-bo, it is a meaningful game to prepare for the match against Denmark or the Czech Republic, the winner of the European Playoff Pass D, which will be the first opponent in Group A of the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup group stage. Austria, which will play in the World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years, is in Group J of the World Cup with Argentina, Algeria, and Jordan.
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*This content was translated by AI.
