Doha: South Korea’s Son Heung-min will be capable of play with a masks of their World Cup Group H opener towards Uruguay on Thursday, coach Paulo Bento stated because the talismanic ahead returns from a surgical process to stabilise a fracture round his left eye.
Son was injured halfway by means of Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League tie at Olympique de Marseille earlier this month and there have been doubts the 30-year-old could be slot in time for the World Cup group stage.
“Sonny will be capable of play,” Bento assured reporters on Wednesday.
“I feel the truth that he shall be carrying a masks isn’t an inconvenience for him, it is fairly pure for him. We caught with the plan after we arrived right here… However we’ll see tomorrow how it will likely be.
“Our hope is that he shall be comfy to the best extent doable and use the most effective technique in order that he can really feel relaxed in the course of the sport. He is aware of and we all know that after his harm we can not take any dangers.”
Bento confirmed that Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead Hwang Hee-chan had not recovered in time for the sport whereas the crew will take a late name on defender Kim Jin-su.
South Korea have failed to copy their magical run to the 2002 World Cup semifinals in latest tournaments and Bento stated he wouldn’t burden them with the goal of qualifying for the knockout levels, taking issues “one match at a time” as an alternative.
“Our aspirations is one thing we conveyed, we want to compete in the most effective method doable within the three group video games,” he stated.
“We’re effectively conscious that we’ll face many difficulties with rivals we play towards and we’re conscious that within the historical past of World Cups, South Korea solely superior to knockouts twice – one in every of them after they had been co-hosts with Japan.
“I do not see any purpose to place any strain on their shoulders. If this was a crew that all the time superior, then I might say, ‘Sure, we have to qualify (for the following stage)’.”
Midfielder Jung Woo-young, some of the skilled gamers in South Korea’s World Cup squad, stated set items could be one in every of their “largest weapons” and brushed apart considerations that Uruguay’s taller gamers would have a bonus.
“Set items are essential to find out the result of the match, so this shall be an enormous benefit for us,” stated the 32-year-old, who performs for Al-Sadd within the Qatar Stars League.
“We’ve got a superb kicker in our crew and we have now gamers which can be bodily outfitted.
“We even have tall gamers, so we’re not nervous concerning the top. It isn’t a figuring out consider soccer, so this does not trouble us.”