Dozen K Leaguers named to Moreno's 1st Korean squad

A dozen players based in the domestic K League were named to the first squad assembled by Robert Moreno for the men's national football team Monday.

Moreno, the Spain-born tactician named as Korea's interim head coach on Sept. 1, unveiled his 30-man squad for the Taegeuk Warriors' next four matches during a press conference at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, some 80 kilometers south of Seoul.

Korea will host Ecuador on Sept. 24, Uruguay on Sept. 28, Venezuela on Oct. 2 and Uzbekistan on Oct. 6.

The presence of 12 K Leaguers out of 30 represents a larger-than-usual share for the Korean league. At this year's FIFA World Cup, for instance, only seven out of 26 players represented the K League.

Moreno's first team includes several of the mainstays, including captain Son Heung-min (Los Angeles Football Club), defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), and midfielders Lee Kang-in (Atletico Madrid) and Hwang In-beom (FC Porto).

Moreno also selected three first-timers: Incheon United defender Kim Geon-hui, Gimcheon Sangmu midfielder Park Tae-jun and Rangers midfielder Kim Min-su.

There are four goalkeepers on the team, one more than usual, as Gu Sung-yu of the K League 1-leading FC Seoul joins a trio of veterans in Jo Hyeon-woo, Kim Seung-gyu and Song Bum-keun.

Moreno claimed he analyzed data on 1,700 Korean players before putting together his 30-man squad.

"Players' current form is more important than what they did in the past," he said. "I prefer players who can contribute to both offense and defense. And when I look them in the eye, I want to be able to feel their passion for the national team."

Long known for his analytically driven approach, Moreno said he will not have enough time to fully implement his game model into the Korean team for the Sept.-Oct. matches. Because of that limitation, Moreno said he tried to clearly define roles for players at each position.

"I went searching for players with specific tactical features," he said. "During our training camp, the job for my staff and myself will be to clearly explain to players what their roles are and help them address their shortcomings."

Moreno also said he will use a 4-4-2 formation, instead of the 3-4-2-1 setup often used by his predecessor Hong Myung-bo.

"Based on what I have learned from an analysis of K League matches over the past two years, it was the most widely used formation," he said. "And basically, it is also deployed worldwide."

Moreno said he came away impressed with Korean players' abilities to win and maintain possession of the ball.

"I think attacking players have tremendous talent. That was the most impressive thing for me," he added. "I think there is potential in that area for Korean football."

Moreno also disputed reports that he relied too much on artificial intelligence at his previous coaching stops and said, "If you verify facts, you will see that much of what was reported was taken out of context and blown out of proportion. Those reports are not true."

After these four upcoming matches, the Korea Football Association is also trying to schedule two more matches in November.

Moreno is signed through Nov. 27, with the KFA hoping to sign a full-time bench boss before the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in January. The KFA, though, inserted a clause in Moreno's clause that will give him a chance to stay on board for the Asian Cup, depending on Korea's performances in his first six matches in charge.

Korean football is trying to turn a new leaf after being eliminated in the group stage at this year's FIFA World Cup. Hong and KFA honcho Chung Mong-gyu both resigned in the aftermath of the tournament, and they have even faced police investigation for the KFA's much-criticized hiring of Hong in July 2024.

Asked what he thought went wrong for Korea at the World Cup, Moreno declined to offer specifics.

"One of my principles as head coach of a national team is that whatever needs to be improved must be done internally," he said. "I have studied World Cup matches and players inside out. But I think it is inappropriate to publicly evaluate my predecessor.

"It is important to use whatever happened in the past as a learning opportunity," he added. "What is clear is that when you lose, many problems surface. But when you win, they fade away. The job of the coaching staff is to put players in the optimal environment and conditions to play."