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| Paulo Bento, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, answers a question during a press conference at Korea Football Association House in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By John Duerden
Paulo Bento has been the coach for South Korea for one year and is about to find out that his employers, fans and media take qualification for the World Cup extremely seriously.
The Portuguese boss did not impress at the Asian Cup in January but while continental missteps can be forgiven, any hint that the Taegeuk Warriors may not qualify for the global festival will be met with less understanding.
Bento named his first 2022 World Cup roster on Monday morning in Seoul ahead of the first game on the road to Qatar. There were not many surprises ― though as suggested before the conference, there was room for Kim Shin-wook, the beanpole striker who is in red-hot form for Shanghai Shenhua in China.
Of course, most of the headlines will focus on Son Heung-min, the biggest name in Asian soccer. Son featured for Tottenham Hotspur in its surprise 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United in London on Sunday, though will be hoping for more opportunities to score against Turkmenistan on Sept 10. Bento still needs to find the best position for Son.
That is the opening game of Group H that also contains North Korea, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. This is the second round of qualification and only the group winner is guaranteed a place in the next phase and that is when things really get interesting.
Korea is expected to take first but also can't take anything for granted. A good start in Turkmenistan is critical and Bento has named a roster with plenty of international experience, especially in attack.
Naming Kim as well as well as Hwang Hee-chan of Red Bull Salzburg and new Bordeaux striker Hwang Ui-jo gives Bento plenty of options going forward.
"I think our positional versatility is our biggest strength," Bento said. "Many of our attacking players can play as wing forwards, shadow strikers or forwards. Because we have so many options, we can make tactical adjustments and changes during matches."
There is also a first call for Lee Kang-in. The 18-year-old was so impressive at the U-20 World Cup that he was named as the tournament MVP. The attacking midfielder has not had much playing time with his Spanish club Valencia but that has not stopped Bento from wanting to take a closer look.
"We'll try to test him in a different position than he's playing on his club," Bento said. "He's going through some tough times with his club, but that's a prestigious team where internal competition can be really tough. We'll keep an eye on him and see if he can survive that competition and continue to develop."
It remains to be seen whether Lee gets any minutes against Turkmenistan in Ashgabat or in a warm-up against Georgia in Istanbul five days earlier on Sept. 5.
The real action is about to start. Bento is about to discover what it is like to lead South Korea through a World Cup qualification campaign.
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