football player-health
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| ▲ Son Heung-min (R), captain of the South Korean men's national football team, takes part in a training session at Gudeok Stadium in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on June 14, 2023. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Jurgen Klinsmann, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, speaks at a press conference at Busan Asiad Main Stadium in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on June 15, 2023. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Players on the South Korean men's national football team huddle around head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and his staff before a training session at Gudeok Stadium in the southeastern city of Busan on June 14, 2023. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Son Heung-min (R), captain of the South Korean men's national football team, takes part in a training session at Gudeok Stadium in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on June 14, 2023. (Yonhap) |
football player-health
S. Korean captain Son Heung-min ruled out of starting lineup in friendly vs. Peru
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean captain Son Heung-min will not start the team's friendly match against Peru on Friday as he is recovering from a recent medical procedure, his head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said on the eve of the match.
Son has been limited in training this week while recovering from sports hernia surgery he had in late May, following the conclusion of the Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur. Though Son has participated in conditioning drills, he was held out of an intrasquad scrimmage and set-piece drills Wednesday -- leading to speculation that he would miss the Peru match in the southeastern city of Busan.
At his prematch press conference, Klinsmann said Son will not start Friday night but did not rule out the possibility that the captain could be subbed in later on.
"He will be on the bench. We hope every day that he gets closer to match fitness," Klinsmann said. "He came in right away after the season was over. He's trying hard to catch up. We take it one day at a time. We hope he still gets on the field."
In Son's absence, goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu will wear the armband.
Klinsmann will also be without his two main center backs. Kim Min-jae of Napoli, named the best defender in Serie A this past season, will complete his military training this month as part of a service exemption earned with the 2018 Asian Games gold medal. His longtime partner, Kim Young-gwon of Ulsan Hyundai FC, is out with a leg injury.
Klinsmann said he would have liked more consistency but accepted that injuries are part of the game. He also chose to look on the brighter side of the situation.
"I always think, the way things happen with injuries, this opens the door for players coming in to prove their point," the coach said. "On one side, you want consistency. But when it doesn't happen, you want to see new players and show their faces. For us coaches, this is very exciting."
Klinsmann said he wants less experienced players called up for this occasion, such as new center backs Park Kyu-hyun and Kim Ju-sung, to make a hard push for inclusion in the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.
The continental tournament kicks off in Qatar in January, and South Korea will try to win their first AFC title since 1960.
"We're seven months away from Qatar and (the internal competition) is heating up. I want to see the players compete for Qatar," Klinsmann said. "It's not ideal because Min-jae is Min-jae and Sonny is Sonny. But it's an opportunity for young players and experienced players coming in to show us coaches how much they want to be in this team. "
The match against Peru kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday at Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
South Korea will next host El Salvador in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
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