Coach Hong Myung-bo's "biggest concern": The midfield haunted by the curse of injuries [Preview of Hong Myung-bo's final roster ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

The 26 Taegeuk Warriors who will compete in the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup will be announced on the 16th. This is the final roster to be selected approximately one year and nine months after the first announcement of Hong Myung-bo's team in August 2024. Since Coach Hong Myung-bo took charge, a total of 69 players have worn the Taegeuk mark at least once. Unless a major surprise occurs, it is highly likely that 26 of them will be chosen by Coach Hong. StarNews will introduce its series of position-by-position predictions for the final roster for the North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup. /Editor's note

In the process of preparing for the North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup, the midfield was the area with the most changes in Hong Myung-bo's team. This was largely due to the numerous "injury variables." Park Yong-woo (33, Al Ain), the defensive midfielder who had been Hwang In-beom's (30, Feyenoord) partner throughout the World Cup qualifiers, was ruled out for the season and has already been excluded since last October. On top of that, Won Doo-jae (29, Korakhan), the top substitute candidate for Park Yong-woo, also left the lineup due to injury. Hwang In-beom himself was absent due to injury in three out of four call-ups after finishing the World Cup qualifiers. The midfield combination centered on Hwang In-beom, the core of the midfield, never even had a proper test. Coach Hong Myung-bo's concerns about the midfield can only deepen.

Looking at Coach Hong Myung-bo's Choi Geun (CEO) team composition tendencies, aside from Park Jin-seop (31, Zhejiang FC), who alternates between defensive midfielder and center-back, it is highly likely that about four midfielders will make the final roster. Among them, Hwang In-beom, the core of the midfield, and Baek Seung-ho (29, Birmingham City) and Kim Jin-gyu (29, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), who have consistently been selected for Hong Myung-bo's team recently, are considered virtually certain candidates for the final World Cup roster. Although recent reports from local sources suggest that Hwang In-beom may not play for his club team in the remaining season, he has reportedly begun adjusting his fitness through running, and given that he is an irreplaceable resource, he is highly likely to be included in the final roster.

Excluding these three players, the "remaining one spot in the midfield" could be a concern for Coach Hong Myung-bo. With a string of injuries in the midfield, Kwon Hyuk-kyu (25, Karlsruher SC), who was tested in November last year and March this year, failed to establish a clear presence within the national team. Recently, he has not even been able to play properly in his club matches, leaving doubts about his match fitness. This also contradicts Coach Hong Myung-bo's stated policy of selecting the player who shows the best form in May for the final roster.

Aside from Kwon Hyuk-kyu, Coach Hong Myung-bo has experimented with midfielders Hong Hyun-seok (26, Gent), Seo Min-woo (28, Gangwon FC), Kim Bong-soo (27, Daejeon Hana Citizen), and Lee Seung-won (23, Kim Cheon (SVP)) since taking charge. If Hong is considering selecting another midfielder instead of Kwon Hyuk-kyu, Hong Hyun-seok and Seo Min-woo are currently the most likely candidates to compete for the spot.

Hong Hyun-seok, while not a defensive midfielder, can perform not only in the midfield but also in wide areas and as a second striker, making him a highly versatile player. Seo Min-woo appears to be on the "borderline" of the final roster competition, having been selected by Coach Hong whenever a "substitute selection" in the midfield was needed recently. Although he has recently played as a wing-back for his club, another option could be to include Jens Castrof (23, Borussia Mönchengladbach), originally selected as a midfielder, as a midfield candidate and broaden the selection range for other positions such as the second line.

For the right-back position, it is virtually certain that Seol Young-woo (28, Crvena Zvezda) and Kim Moon-hwan (31, Daejeon Hana Citizen) will make the final World Cup roster. Coach Hong Myung-bo has alternated between the two as right-sided wing-backs in every pair of A-matches since the September call-up last year. Both Seol Young-woo and Kim Moon-hwan have no variables regarding their performances or consistent playing time at their respective clubs. In particular, Seol Young-woo is considered the most likely candidate to travel to North, Central America and the Caribbean among all wing-back resources because he can play on both the left and right sides.

Aside from them, Jung Sung-bin (24, St. Louis City) was briefly tested in September and October last year, but after missing both A-matches in October, he has been continuously excluded from call-ups, making it clear that he is far from the World Cup. The only remaining area of concern is Choi Jun (27, FC Seoul), who has recently performed well for his club and was called up by Coach Hong Myung-bo in June last year. However, given that he has played only one match (three minutes) since the launch of Hong Myung-bo's team, the possibility of a "surprise selection" remains uncertain.

Like the right side, the left wing-back position, which seemed to have solidified into a competition between Lee Tae-seok (24, Austria Vienna) and Lee Myung-jae (33, Daejeon), has been shaken by the "Castrof variable." Castrof has recently continued to perform well for his club, even winning the club's Player of the Month award this month. During the March A-match period, Coach Hong Myung-bo even classified Castrof not as a midfielder but as a "defender," leaving open the possibility of using him as a wing-back in the national team.

The problem is that the "wing-back Castrof" himself was not tested during the March A-match period due to the aftermath of an injury. In addition, Lee Myung-jae has also missed three consecutive A-matches due to recent injury, which can only increase Coach Hong's concerns. While Lee Tae-seok, who has been performing consistently for his club and has no major variables in his standing within the national team, is certain to fill one spot in the left wing-back resources, Coach Hong Myung-bo is highly likely to deliberate until the last moment between Lee Myung-jae and Castrof.

However, since Castrof is a multi-player who can also play in the midfield, and given that the wing-back test has not been properly conducted, reducing and selecting other wing-back resources would inevitably carry a high risk. Therefore, more weight is placed on the possibility of maintaining the existing Lee Tae-seok and Lee Myung-jae lineup while bringing Castrof along as a left wing-back and midfield multi-resource. Along with the recent tactical shift to a three-back formation, Eom Ji-seong (24, Swansea City) and Yang Hyun-jun (24, Celtic FC), who have recently been tested as wing-backs, are also considered wing-back candidates, but given that they are primarily attacking resources, they are more likely to be classified as second-line resources rather than displacing existing wing-back resources to be selected as defenders.

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*This content was translated by AI.