Korea Republic vs Georgia
The top domestic leagues in Europe may have just kicked off a few weeks ago, but SBOBET football fans will have to wait a while for club football to return due to the upcoming international break.
One of the many international friendly matches on schedule will be Korea Republic and Georgia, who will meet at the Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Both sides will use this friendly to prepare for their respective qualifying matches the following week.
The Koreans will be looking to keep up their promising run of results under manager Paulo Bento as they begin another World Cup qualifying campaign. Facing the Georgians should give them a good opportunity to do just that, as most international friendly 2019 predictions for the match will agree with.
Georgia, who performed will in the UEFA Nations League, are still in search of that impressive form and will look to rediscover some of it ahead of their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark.
Talking Points
Korea looking strong under Bento
Paulo Bento has had a strong start to his stint as Korea boss. The Portuguese manager has led the Taeguk Warriors to 10 wins in his first 16 matches in charge, with five draws and just one defeat.
He began his reign going unbeaten in his first 11 matches before losing for the first time against eventual champions Qatar in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup.
Since that defeat, they have racked up more impressive International Friendly 2019 results, going undefeated in their last four games. They won three matches in a row against Bolivia (1-0), Colombia (2-1), and Australia (1-0) before drawing against Iran (1-1) in their most recent friendly.
Hwang Ui-jo has been among the standout players during Bento’s tenure. The 27-year-old striker, who joined French club Bordeaux this summer, has scored seven of his eight international goals under Bento, with two coming in their last two matches against Australia and Iran.
Hwang’s emergence has been a major boost for the Koreans as it has helped take away the pressure from captain and star forward Heung-Min Son.
The Tottenham Hotspur star remains the Taeguk Warriors’ main man with 24 goals in 81 appearances, but he now has some much-needed help in terms of scoring goals for the team.
Son has scored just once for his country since the 2018 World Cup, but he will have a golden opportunity to add to his tally if he plays against the Georgians.
Georgia in need of a good result
Georgia’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign has been a rough one thus far. They have lost three of their first four matches, with their lone win coming against minnows Gibraltar (3-0). They were absolutely hammered 5-1 in their most recent match against Denmark.
Thankfully, they are assured at least a play-off spot due to their terrific performance in the UEFA Nations League. The Georgians were the best performers in all of League D as they went unbeaten in their six matches (five wins and a draw) in their group, which consisted of Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Andorra. They also scored 12 goals and conceded just two.
But despite that strong performance, goal-scoring remains a concern for the Georgians against stronger opposition. Valeri Qazaishvili of the San Jose Earthquakes is the team’s leading scorer with 10 goals in 40 caps. Captain Jaba Kankava, 33, is second with nine in 82 caps. Their top striker is Giorgi Kvilitaia of Gent has a mere three goals in 17 appearances.
Georgia manager Vladimir Weiss has opted not to select Giorgi Chakvetadze — the star of their Nations League campaign with four goals — in their recent qualifiers. But the door is still open for him to call up the 20-year-old midfielder for the friendly against Korea in order for him to gain some more experience.
History
A little bit of history will be made in this match as this will be the first time Korea Republic and Georgia will face off in a competitive football match.
Georgia haven’t faced a team from the Asian Football confederation since 2017 when they met both Uzbekistan and Jordan. They drew 2-2 against Uzbekistan before losing 1-0 to Jordan.
As for Korea, they have lost their last three friendly matches to European opposition. They went down to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Poland, and Northern Ireland. Although, they did beat both Latvia and Moldova, who are much closer to the Georgians’ level.
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