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| 2021-03-15 13:47:20
football coach-match
S. Korea football coach says game must go on despite pandemic
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean men's national football team has faced criticism for agreeing to play a friendly match against Japan near Tokyo later this month during the coronavirus pandemic. Detractors have wondered why South Korea has to take the risk of traveling at this juncture, given that Japan is struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19, and South Korea is also trying to keep things under control.
The team's head coach, Paulo Bento, had a message for those critics Monday: The game must go on.
"All members of our society are working in their respective fields, as far as circumstances allow them to do so," Bento said at a press conference at the Korea Football Association (KFA) House in Seoul, announcing his 24-man roster for the match on March 25 in Yokohama. "And although we're being affected by health and safety protocol, we'll have to do the best we can within those confines."
South Korea and Japan will meet for the first time since December 2019. Japan approached South Korea about playing during the March 22-30 FIFA international match window. There was an opening after Asian World Cup qualifiers scheduled for that period got pushed back to June due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sensing an opportunity to keep players sharp before June, the KFA agreed to the friendly match in Yokohama, just south of the Japanese capital.
A fan started an online petition to demand the match be called off to ensure the health and safety of national team players. The memories of a COVID-19 outbreak on the team during its most recent road trip, to Austria in November 2020, are still fresh in people's minds. Several players and team officials tested positive for the virus then, and the short-handed South Korea still managed to play Mexico and Qatar.
Bento defended the choice of scheduling the Japan match, saying the decision was reached after "a comprehensive review" of many variables and that other international matches are taking place in other parts of the world.
"Football must go on as long as rules are being followed," Bento said. "We'll abide by health and safety protocols. My understanding is that our medical team is trying to make sure we'll be in a much safer environment than in November."
The coach also noted that it will be South Korea's only tuneup match before playing four World Cup qualifying matches in a 13-day span in June.
The two matches in the ultimately doomed trip to Austria were South Korea's only international matches for 2020. Their previous international action had come in December 2019.
"For about a year before the Austria trip, I didn't even get to see some of the players," Bento said. "We have to overcome such adversity to prepare for our World Cup qualifying matches. I think it's our duty and responsibility (as coaching staff) to do our best to run this team as normally as we can under the circumstances."
Bento also said the significance of a South Korea-Japan rivalry match isn't lost on him. In 79 all-time meetings, South Korea have the upper hand with 42 wins, 23 draws and 14 losses.
The global pandemic will leave Bento without some of his best players. Clubs are normally obligated to release their international players for FIFA-sanctioned matches. Under temporary rules put in place during the pandemic, clubs don't have to send those players to FIFA matches, depending on travel restrictions in their respective countries.
The likes of Bordeaux forward Hwang Ui-jo, Beijing Guoan defender Kim Min-jae, Shandong Taishan midfielder Son Jun-ho and Holstein Kiel midfielder Lee Jae-sung will be held back by their clubs. The KFA managed to get Tottenham Hotspur to agree to release Son Heung-min, but the South Korean dynamo suffered a left hamstring injury during Sunday's Premier League match against Arsenal in London, only hours before Bento announced his roster.
Son is on the squad for now, but Bento said he'll await the result of Son's test before deciding the player's final status.
"We had some challenges in putting together this team, due to COVID-19 and injuries," Bento said. "I don't have to tell you how difficult it will be for our team if Son Heung-min can't play. But we'll have to prepare for the match the best we can with the players that we do have. We'll try to put on a good show for our fans."
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