Uruguay could be a make-or-break moment for the Taeguk Warriors

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Published: 23 Nov. 2022, 15:35

Uruguay could be a make-or-break moment for the Taeguk Warriors

Son Heung-min warms up during a training session at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Son Heung-min, left, and Kim Min-jae warm up during a training session at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. Korea will play its first match against Uruguay on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

The Taeguk Warriors face a serious challenge the moment they step on to the pitch for the first time in Qatar on Thursday as Korea looks to beat the odds against world No. 14 Uruguay despite concerns about the fitness of first XI stalwarts like Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan.

After four years of waiting, Korea is just moments away from their opening match at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Group H is the last to kick off at the World Cup, leaving Korea to face Uruguay in one of the final four games of the first round on Thursday. The match will be only the second to be played at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, before Portugal face Ghana a few hours later.

With Korea facing some serious competition as part of Group H alongside Uruguay, Ghana and Portugal, the Taeguk Warriors and head coach Paulo Bento will be looking to give it their all in the first match as a loss against Uruguay will make it extremely hard for Korea to stay in the tournament.

Korea failed to advance to the knockout stage last time around at the 2018 World Cup, but what the team did gain was experience of outplaying a major footballing nation.

In their last match of the 2018 World Cup, Korea stunned defending champion Germany with a 2-0 victory.

For Korea to advance to the knockout stage on that occasion, the team had to beat Germany by at least two goals and Mexico had to defeat Sweden. Despite high expectations that Mexico would win, Sweden defeated Mexico 3-0 to advance to the knockout stage as the winner of Group F.

Hwang Hee-chan trains on a bike during a training session at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

That experience of winning despite being the underdog may come in handy on Thursday when No. 28 Korea face No. 14 Uruguay, especially with the form of the two most experienced and versatile Korean midfielders Son and Hwang remaining a big concern.

Son is the most capped in the Korean squad with 105 appearances and is the top scorer with 35 goals.

Under Bento's leadership, Son has had the most direct goal involvements of any Korean footballer, with 12 goals and nine assists.

This calendar year, Son has scored five goals in eight appearances including three from free kicks against Costa Rica, Paraguay and Chile.

Son Heung-min wears a carbon-fiber mask during a training session at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

However, Son's eye socket fracture earlier this month is still a concern.

Son had to go under surgery earlier this month on one or multiple orbital fractures after his eye socket was fractured during a collision in the 29th minute of a Champions League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Marseille at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France on Nov. 1.

Although Son has shown up for every training session in Doha with his carbon-fiber mask and now seems recovered enough to head the ball, how effectively he'll be able to play just a few weeks after surgery with a mask on still remains to be seen.

"I trained with Son Heung-min one-on-one yesterday," said teammate Son Jun-ho on Tuesday.

"He hadn't headed the ball since the surgery and I threw him the ball lightly so that he could head it. For now, he seemed fine. Son Heung-min is mentally strong enough to put everything behind him and just play on the field."

Kim Jin-su speaks during a press conference before a training session at Al Egla Training Site in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

While Son's fitness has remained a question, his teammates and the man himself have made it clear he intends to play, even if it could be risky to do so.

"As you all know, Son Heung-min is healthy and doing well," said defender Kim Jin-su on Tuesday.

"He is very optimistic on and off the pitch and is doing a great job leading the squad, although I can't say right now whether he will play on Thursday. That is up to the head coach at the end of the day."

Things seem worse for Hwang, who noticeably skipped field training on Tuesday, just two days before kick off, suggesting that what has been reported as hamstring discomfort may well be serious enough to prevent him from playing.

Hwang's hamstring has been a concern since Nov. 12, when he didn't even get a spot on the bench in Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 loss to Arsenal, the club's last game before the international break.

Reports after the game suggested he was out due to hamstring discomfort, a phrase that has been repeated by the Korean camp over the last 10 days with repeated reassurances that discomfort doesn't mean an injury.

Concerns were first raised after Hwang sat out some training in the first few days in Doha. On Tuesday, he was only pictured training on an exercise bike before being was called out to get his hamstring treated.

Uruguay's goalkeepers train with airbags that look like footballers wearing the Korean national team jersey at Al Erssal training ground in Doha on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

From left: Uruguay forwards Darwin Nunez and Edinson Cavani, defender Sebastian Coates, forward Luis Suarez and midfielder Agustin Canobbio attend a training session at Al Erssal training ground in Doha on Tuesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

While it remains to be seen how Bento will tidy up his starting 11 for Korea's opening match, Uruguay's World Cup squad will be mostly made up of big names and star players from the European leagues.

As well as tried-and-tested players like Valencia's Edinson Cavani and Nacional's Luis Suarez appearing at their fourth World Cups, fresh feet like Liverpool's Darwin Nunez and Manchester United's Facundo Pellistri are getting ready for their debut.

The dynamic midfielder duo of Real Madrid's Federico Valverde and Tottenham Hotspur's Rodrigo Bentancur is also likely to start on Thursday.

Though Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona is out recovering from a thigh injury, he is not likely to join the squad on Thursday and may well be saved for a possible knockout stage run.

Hwang Ui-jo celebrates after opening the scoring for Korea's friendly against Uruguay on Oct. 12, 2018 at Seoul World Cup stadium in Mapo district, western Seoul. Korea eventually beat Uruguay 2-1. [NEWS1]

The head-to-head is on the South American team's side as they have won six matches out of the eight times Korea faced Uruguay.

Korea held Uruguay to a 2-2 draw once in 1982 then lost the next six matches including two at the World Cup. At the 1990 World Cup, Uruguay beat Korea 1-0 in the group stage while beating Korea 2-1 at the 2010 World Cup.

However, that Korea beat Uruguay 2-1 in their most recent match on Oct. 12, 2018 in a friendly is a good sign for the Taeguk Warriors.

Korea face Uruguay at Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar at 4 p.m. on Thursday, or at 10 p.m. in Korea.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]