International Friendly: Can Klinsmann Finally Get Over the Hump?

Wales vs Korea Republic

Wales and South Korea are set to face off in an International Friendly, as both teams prepare ahead of their big tournaments, which will happen in just a few months.

After this game, Wales will continue their Euro 2024 qualifying journey on Monday against Latvia, while South Korea will take on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday before meeting Tunisia in October. The Taeguk Warriors’ World Cup qualifying campaign will start in mid-November after those two tune-up games.

Both teams have not been in their best form recently, but the good news is that one of them can break out of their rut come Thursday night at Cardiff City Stadium.

Who do you think will be the one to put an end to their winless run? Find out more about these two nations in today’s SBOTOP preview.

Talking Points

Lee and Son aren’t available for South Korea

Against Wales, South Korea won’t have Heung-Min Son once again. He wasn’t listed in their squad for this international break, which is too bad because he’s in great form.

The newly appointed Tottenham captain is fresh from an outstanding performance against Burnley on Saturday at Turf Moor, scoring a hat-trick en route to a 5-2 victory. Son’s last appearance for South Korea was their 2-1 loss to Uruguay back in March.

Lee Kang-In is also not included in the squad due to a thigh injury. His mother club, PSG, announced a few days ago that the attacking midfielder is going to be out until the middle of September, although it’s unclear where and when he sustained his injury.

The 22-year-old has already started twice for PSG so far this season, playing 81 minutes in the opener against Lorient and 51 minutes against Toulouse.

And according to reports, Lee Kang-In is now listed as questionable for the upcoming Asian Games, which will start in two weeks, where he’s supposed to lead the team’s title defence as the reigning gold medal winners.

With Lee and Son sidelined, South Korea will lean on the likes of Hwang Hee-Chan, Cho Gue-Sung, and Hwang Ui-Jo to lead up front, while Kim Min-Jae will marshal their backline.

Wales’ Premier League boys will lead the way

The Cymru are in danger of crashing out of the Euro 2024 qualifiers because they’re fourth in Group D with back-to-back losses against Armenia and Turkey. In those two games, they were outgunned, which should not be the case against the undermanned Taeguk Warriors this Thursday.

Wales have weapons to breach South Korea’s backline, namely Fulham’s Harry Wilson, Bournemouth’s David Brooks, and Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson.

Brooks has already scored twice for the Cherries this season, while Harry Wilson and Kieffer Moore were the last players to score for Wales. But their biggest attacking threat is Brennan Johnson, who just joined Spurs and can play anywhere in the attacking line.

To put into context why it is so, that is because Johnson was one of the best ball carriers in the Premier League last season, only second behind Marcus Rashford in average ball-carry distance (22.18 metres). And the scary part is that he’s just getting started at 22 years old.

History

Thursday marks the first time that Wales and South Korea face off in all competitions.

Against Asian opponents, Wales have won five times, lost once, and drawn twice. And they have only conceded twice in these matches, recording six clean sheets.

The Cymru’s last defeat to an Asian nation was against Iran in the 2022 World Cup group stage, as Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored in stoppage time after Wayne Hennessey was sent off.

Meanwhile, South Korea have yet to win a game since Jurgen Klinsmann’s appointment.

Their International Friendly 2023 results under the German boss are a 2-2 draw against Colombia, a 2-1 loss against Uruguay, a 1-0 loss against Peru, and a 1-1 draw against El Salvador.

Betting Tip

The International Friendly 2023 odds predict a tight contest between Wales and South Korea. Rob Page’s side was given the slight advantage at 2.37, whereas Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea squad is right behind them at 2.71, and a draw is also a possibility at 3.05.

It feels like we’re going to see a low-scoring game, which doesn’t favour Jurgen Klinsmann’s side since he loves his high-octane brand of football, hence Wales’ edge.

That makes Under 2.25 at 1.84 your best available bet, while Total Goal 0-1 at 2.70 can give you a better payout. We also wouldn’t be surprised if Jurgen Klinsmann came out empty-handed yet again.

 

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