Lee Chun-soo's candid remarks: "Friendly matches against FIFA-ranked teams in the 100s? A comparative analysis would not be a bad idea."

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Chun-soo (45), a former South Korean national football team player, evaluated the two upcoming friendly matches of Hong Myung-bo's team against Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador, stating, "If you look only at the teams, you might think 'What?', but if you compare and analyze the opponents, it's not a bad idea."

On the 28th, on his YouTube channel 'Lee Chun-soo [Lee Chun-soo]', Lee Chun-soo emphasized, "Since these are friendly matches ahead of the World Cup, they are important. It is not the opponent that matters, but our learning that is important."

Hong Myung-bo's team entered the pre-camp in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on the 18th. They are scheduled to face Trinidad and Tobago on the 31st at 10 a.m. (Korean time) and El Salvador on the 4th of next month at 10 a.m. These are the final two friendly matches before the World Cup.

The issue is that while South Korea's FIFA ranking is 25th, Trinidad and Tobago is ranked 102nd and El Salvador is ranked 100th, meaning they are teams with significantly lower strength. As these are the matches immediately before the World Cup, fans who expected the final friendlies against strong teams could only be greatly disappointed by these opponents.

This is the result of South Korea's three group stage matches all being held in the high-altitude regions of Mexico, and naturally, the opponents were selected based on 'high-altitude match experience' rather than team strength. For most teams that do not play World Cup matches in high-altitude areas, there was no need to take on the burden of high-altitude matches for a friendly against South Korea, and naturally, arranging friendlies against strong teams was not easy. This is why friendlies against teams ranked in the 100s in the FIFA rankings were scheduled.

In fact, the situation for other teams in Group A is not different. South Africa is scheduled to play friendlies against NKARA (131st) and Puerto Rico (156th), and the Czech Republic will play a friendly against Guatemala (96th) in New Jersey, USA, which is not a high-altitude area, after a domestic friendly match serving as a World Cup departure ceremony against Kosovo (78th). The only exception is Mexico, which managed to schedule three friendlies against Ghana (2-0 win), Australia, and Serbia by leveraging the 'host nation premium'.

Hearing this background explanation from the panelists who appeared with him, Lee Chun-soo said, "If you look only at the (opponent) teams, you might think 'What?', but after comparing and analyzing the opponents, it's not bad. When playing in high-altitude areas, the most important thing is injury. From the opponent's perspective, they might think, 'Why would we risk getting injured just to play a match against (South Korea)?'"

He continued, "Looking at the past, the meaning of friendly matches immediately before the World Cup is largely twofold: to prepare well for the main tournament through practical experience by playing against strong teams, or to create a goal-scoring performance against weaker teams. In this situation, friendlies against strong teams are not easy. Other teams likely took the stance of 'Why go there (to the high-altitude area)?'"

Lee Chun-soo added, "Ultimately, it is important to confirm our role in the high-altitude area and whether we can still show our play despite the difficulties. There is also something to learn from rough opponents like (El Salvador). Since we moved to (the US) quickly, we hope to adapt quickly and prepare so that our performance in the main tournament can be good."

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*This content was translated by AI.