▲ Paulo Bento, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, speaks at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 24, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ In this AFP photo, Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur (L) plays the ball past Timothy Castagne of Leicester City during their Premier League match at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, on May 23, 2021. (Yonhap)
▲ South Korean men's national football team forward Hwang Ui-jo listens to a question during an online interview at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 31, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Hak-bum, head coach of the South Korean men's Olympic football team, speaks at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 24, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ In this file photo from March 25, 2021, Lee Kang-in of South Korea (L) and Maya Yoshida of Japan chase the loose ball during a men's friendly football match at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) S Korea-football

(LEAD) Nat'l football teams open training camps ahead of busy June

(ATTN: ADDS comments throughout, photo)

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- Training camps for both the men's senior national football team and the men's Olympic football team opened Monday, as the boys in red gear up for an action-packed month of June.

The senior team, coached by Paulo Bento, will train at the National Football Center (NFC) in Paju, north of Seoul, for three qualifying matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. South Korea will host Turkmenistan on Saturday, followed by Sri Lanka on June 9 and Lebanon on June 13 to wrap up Group H action in the second round.

Teams in the second round last played in November 2019. All of their matches scheduled for 2020 were postponed because of the global coronavirus pandemic. And to reduce traveling and minimize risks of infection, South Korea was chosen as the centralized venue for all remaining matches.

North Korea had also been paired in Group H, but they withdrew from the competition. With all of their previous matches wiped from the books, South Korea climbed to the top of the group.

The eight group winners and four-best runners-up will advance to the third round.

Bento finds himself in the hot seat after South Korea's demoralizing 3-0 loss to archrivals Japan in March -- a result that prompted a rare apology from Korea Football Association (KFA) President Chung Mong-gyu.

On the slate are three very winnable matches for South Korea. Anything short of three straight victories will only increase the volume on calls for Bento's dismissal.

Bento's roster features some usual suspects, such as captain Son Heung-min and national team mainstay Hwang Ui-jo on offense. Bento also selected rising stars in the domestic K League, including the 19-year-old Suwon Samsung Bluewings forward Jung Sang-bin.

Hwang, who led his French club FC Girondins de Bordeaux with 12 goals this past season, said he'll try to maintain his scoring form for the national team.

Since Bento took over the program in August 2018, Hwang leads all South Korean players with 11 goals.

"I know my job is to score as many goals as I can, and help the team win," Hwang said in an online interview from the NFC on Monday. "Scoring is one area of the game where I've been trying to improve over the years. I think I've learned so much playing in Europe. I've gotten better at creating scoring chances and converting them."

The Olympic team, coached by Kim Hak-bum, will set up base on Jeju Island, where they will host Ghana for two tuneup matches ahead of the Tokyo Games -- on June 12 and then June 15.

These matches are the final opportunity for Kim to get in-match looks at players before finalizing his 18-man roster for the July 23-Aug. 8 Olympics. The Olympic men's football tournament is usually open to players 23 or younger, but for this year, following a one-year postponement necessitated by the pandemic, the age limit has been raised to 24. Players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997, will be eligible.

And countries can also name up to three players each over that limit. This means under-24 players are vying for just 15 roster spots, which should set up an intriguing roster battle at this camp.

Lee Kang-in, a 21-year-old midfielder for the Spanish club Valencia CF, will be one of the candidates, along with a couple of other Europe-based players, Jeong Woo-yeong (21) of SC Freiburg in Germany and Lee Seung-woo (23) of Portimonense in Portugal.

In an online interview from Jeju, Lee Seung-woo said Monday he's confident he can win the internal competition.

"I've always been a confident player. And if I don't compete with confidence, then I can't make the plays that I want," Lee said. "My job is to do the best I can, and it will be up to the coach to make the decision on the roster."

Lee, a one-time FC Barcelona prospect, has more international experience than most players his age. He played at FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups, and won a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games as a member of the national U-23 team. Earlier that same year, he made his World Cup debut in Russia at age 20, and has 11 caps with the senior national team.

"I've been playing in a lot of international tournaments and I think that experience will help me (in the Olympic roster competition)," Lee said. "Having already played for Coach Kim at the Asian Games, I know exactly what he wants from his players."

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