intro
(Photo credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Overview/match information
jig: South Korea vs Bahrain
venue: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
date: Monday, January 15, 2024, 20:30 KST
Group G will begin with South Korea taking on Bahrain on Monday night. South Korea has made no secret that its goal is to win the competition and is hoping to get off to a good start. South Korea’s record in the opening games of the group stage is 14 games played, 6 wins, 7 draws, and 1 loss. Bahrain, on the other hand, have never won in their opening group stage matches, with three draws and three losses.
recent forms
Korea will enter the opening match of the Asian Cup in good form. With a 1-0 friendly victory over Iraq on Saturday, January 6th, the Taegeuk Warriors extended their unbeaten record to eight with six consecutive wins and seven consecutive clean sheets. Competitively, South Korea have played just two games under coach Jurgen Klinsmann, winning 5-0 at home against Singapore and 3-0 away against China.
Bahrain played Angola on Wednesday but lost 3-0. Three days earlier, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia in their first match of 2024. Bahrain’s last win was in mid-November in a World Cup qualifier against Yemen, and since then they have lost three straight without scoring a goal.
team news
Although Lee Gang-in received a red card during the team’s 1-0 friendly win against Iraq, he will not be suspended. He is expected to be the starter. Since Kim Jin-soo is doubtful to play due to injury, it is almost certain that Lee Gi-jae will start at left back.
face to face
The two teams have previously faced each other at the AFC Asian Cup. In 2019, South Korea needed extra time to easily get past a stubborn Bahrain team, with Kim Jin-soo ultimately scoring the winner in the first half of extra time. Hwang Hee-chan gave South Korea the lead in the 43rd minute, but Mohamed Al Romaihi scored in the 77th minute to equalize the score.
(Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) |
South Korea also defeated Bahrain 2-1 at the 2011 Asia Cup (also the opening game of the group) with Koo Ja-chul scoring two goals. However, in 2007, it was Bahrain who came from behind to win. Kim Do-hong put South Korea ahead in just four minutes, but Salman Issa tied the score at 43 points, and Ismael Abdullatif Hassan scored the winning goal with five minutes remaining.
A total of five meetings have been held between the two teams so far. South Korea had 3 wins, Bahrain had 1 win and 1 draw.
opposition party
Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images) |
Bahrain is South Korea’s highest-ranked opponent in the group stage, ranking 86th in the world and 12th in Asia. Bahrain advanced to the Round of 16 in 2019, finishing second after fourth place in 2004. Bahrain first participated in the Asian Cup in 1988. From 1956 to 1964 the country was technically part of the United Kingdom and did not compete in 1968. He was unable to qualify for the 1972 Thailand Games, and withdrew in 1976, 1980, and 1984, but made history by qualifying in 1988. Although he did not qualify for the next three tournaments, he has participated in every Asian Cup since 2004.
Most of the Bahrain national team plays in the domestic league, but midfielder Ali Madan, who tried out in the UAE with Ajman, midfielder Moses Atedeh, who plays for Kedah Darul Aman in the Malaysian Super League, and forward Except Abdul. Yousef Helal plays for Mlada Boleslav in the Czech First Division. One of the changes to the original team was the call-up of Salem Hussein from Al Shabab due to defender Ahmed Bougammal’s back injury.
Youssef will be Bahrain’s main goal threat. This season, he has played in 19 games in all competitions, scoring 6 goals and providing 2 assists as part of the free kick Mlada Boleslav. Overall, the 30-year-old has won 11 of his 80 international caps.
The team, called Dilmunds Warriors, is led by Italian head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi. As a player, Pizzi played for big clubs such as Valencia, Barcelona, River Plate and Porto. This is not his first time working with the Bahrain national team, having also managed the Chilean national team from 2016 to 2017. He played seven games under the Bahrain national team, scoring six goals and conceding eight goals, with three wins, one draw and one loss.
Who to pay attention to
Lee Kang-in & Lee Ki-jae
(Photo provided by AFP) |
There is a real star in Korea in Lee Kang-in. He provides an attacking spark in and around the box with his quick feet and sharp passing. But because of the aura around him and the fact that he plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world, Paris Saint-Germain, the team now has another player to try to neutralize. There is. The team has often tried to double up Son Heung-min, but if that happens, Lee Kang-in will be given more space. Similarly, if Lee is used as a double, Son will have more space to cause damage to his team. Lee Kang-in’s performance with the national team is impressive with 4 goals and 5 assists in 19 caps, contributing to an average of 1 goal per 2.1 games.
As for the K-League players to watch, left-back Lee Ki-jae has the manager’s support, and Kim Jin-soo is suspected of being injured, so he is expected to be manager Klinsmann’s first choice. The group stage will be a good stage for Lee to show off his offensive abilities. He has 11 caps for his country and his only assist came in the 2-1 defeat against Uruguay in March last year. Last season, Lee ranked 8th in the K League 1 with a total of 85 crosses, and was 4th among left-backs. His accuracy was 42.35%, 11th overall and 6th among all fullbacks.
prediction
This should be a relatively easy match for a quality Korean team, especially with their attacking options. Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Lee Kang-in are all doing well with their clubs, and this should prove to be too much for Bahrain to handle.
Korea 2-0 Bahrain
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