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| South Korea's national football team players train at the BSFZ Area in Austria, Nov. 16. / Courtesy of KFA |
By John Duerden
What a week. It was, in the words of one Korea Football Association (KFA) official, "a nightmare." What should have been an exciting trip to Europe to take on Mexico and Qatar ― the teams that basically eliminated the Taeguk Warriors from the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup respectively ― turned into something very different.
It will probably be forgotten that the first game, just outside Vienna, was lost to Mexico 3-2 and then there was a 2-1 victory over Qatar. There were plenty of talking points on the field, the defensive issues, the deployment of Son Heung-min out wide and issues of transition were all there but are in danger of being forgotten.
The idea was to get the national team out of the country for the first time in 2020, to get the European-based players together by having two games in Austria where it was possible to get all the roster in and out without having to worry too much about quarantine.
On the morning of the game with Mexico, the KFA announced that four players had tested positive. Lee Dong-jun, Kwon Chang-hoon, Hwang In-beom and Jo Hyeon-woo had to quarantine and, obviously, couldn't play, despite suggestions that the game could be cancelled. Later, Kim Moon-hwan and Na Sang-ho also tested positive.
Fortunately, there were no more infections before the Qatar game four days later. And while Korea won 2-1, it was not the best performance. However, given the absences, other injuries and players such as Kim Min-jae not being released by Chinese clubs, then it would have been amazing had it been anything else. For a team that had not been together for 12 months and amid such chaos then it soon became something just to get through and finish.
"I think we executed our match plan better in the second half than in the first half," the coach said in an interview clip provided by the Korea Football Association (KFA). "Toward the end, we started playing more conservatively and looked for counterattack chances. I think we controlled the match well. We played under some challenging circumstances, and I'd like to thank the players for finishing the trip with a win."
All the players, except for German-based Kwon and Hwang Hee-chan, who later tested positive, flew back home. The other pair were driven back to their European clubs.
Of course there was a lot of attention in England and internationally on Son. Was the joint top scorer of the English Premier League going to catch the virus and miss the next few games? That did not happen.
Jose Mourinho, Son's club coach at Tottenham Hotspur and one of the leading coaches in the world, wrote a sarcastic post on social media that most thought was aimed at Korea and the open training sessions that the team seemed to have.
"Amazing week of football. Great emotions in the national team matches, superb friendlies and total safety," the 51-year-old said. "Covid test results after matches been played, randomers running on the pitch while team sessions are taking place and much more."
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