Klinsmann calls up World Cup squad for March friendlies

Football

Published: 14 Mar. 2023, 10:48

Klinsmann calls up World Cup squad for March friendlies

Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic, left, and Lee Ki-je of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings. [YONHAP]

Jurgen Klinsmann called up 26 players on Monday for the upcoming friendly matches against Colombia and Uruguay, with only two changes made from the 2022 Qatar World Cup roster.

Lee Ki-je of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings is a new name in the squad alongside Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic, who was on the reserves list for the World Cup last year.

Oh went to Qatar and was to play for Son Heung-min if Son was unable to play due to an orbital fracture, but he was never added to the roster as the Korean captain played all four games in the tournament.

The Celtic player is replacing Yoon Jong-gyu of Gimcheon Sangmu, who is out with an injury.

Lee Ki-je, on the other hand, did not head to Qatar. He made his national team debut on June 5, 2021 when he was substituted on for Hong Chul during a game against Turkmenistan in the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

The Korean national football team roster for friendly games in March shared on the Korea Football Association's official Twitter account on Monday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee will be filling in for Hong of Daegu FC again after the veteran defender was injured in a K League game against the Pohang Steelers last month.

The other 24 players are exactly the same members who headed to the World Cup last year.

The three goalkeepers included in the roster are Kim Seung-gyu of Al Shabab, Jo Hyeon-woo of Ulsan Hyundai and Seong Bum-keun of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

The defenders in the squad along with Lee Ki-je are Kim Young-gwon and Kim Tae-hwan of Ulsan, Kim Jin-su and Kim Moon-hwan of Jeonbuk, Kim Min-jae of Napoli, Kwon Kyung-won of Gamba Osaka and Cho Yu-min of Daejeon Hana Citizen.

Over in midfielder, there is not a single change from the Word Cup. Captain Son is in the squad alongside Jung Woo-young of Al Sadd, Son Jun-ho of Shandong Taishan, Paik Seung-ho and Song Min-kyu of Jeonbuk, Hwang In-beom of Olympiacos, Lee Jae-sung of Mainz, Kwon Chang-hoon of Gimcheon Sangmu, Jeong Woo-yeong of Freiburg, Lee Kang-in of Mallorca, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton of Wanderers and Na Sang-ho of FC Seoul.

The two forwards joining Oh are Cho Gue-sung of Jeonbuk and Hwang Ui-jo of FC Seoul.

Klinsmann, who took charge of the Taeguk Warriors last month, will make his debut on March 24 against Colombia in Ulsan, before clashing with Uruguay in Seoul on March 28.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]