Could doing well at the Euros mean no Seoul for Harry Kane?

Football

Published: 04 Jul. 2024, 15:07 Updated: 04 Jul. 2024, 16:48

Could doing well at the Euros mean no Seoul for Harry Kane?

Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane of England, right, celebrates scoring during the round of 16 Euros match against Slovakia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on June 30. [AFP/YONHAP]

As the Euros roll on in Germany, it seems increasingly likely that some of the biggest stars of this year’s Coupang Play Series in Seoul may never actually make it here.

Nearly a dozen Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur players are still active in the Euros as the tournament heads into the quarterfinals, casting doubt over whether they’ll be able to fulfill possible contractually obligated rest periods before they’re due to play in front of more than 66,000 Korean fans in Seoul next month.

As of press time Thursday, 10 Bayern players — Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Leroy Sane and Thomas Muller of Germany, Harry Kane of England, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman of France and Matthijs de Ligt of the Netherlands — along with Spurs defender Micky van de Ven of the Netherlands have at least one more match at the Euros with the quarterfinals kicking off on Friday.

Micky van de Ven, front, shoots during an Euros group match between the Netherlands and Austria in Berlin, Germany on June 25. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

For Bayern players, exiting after the quarterfinals, which end Saturday, would mean one week of rest before the 2024 preseason schedule begins and give them about a month to prepare for their clash in Seoul against Spurs.

The Bundesliga side is set to begin training on July 15, a day after the Euros final, and play two friendlies against FC Rottach-Egern and FC Duren in Germany the following week.

The squad then embarks on their journey to Korea for the Coupang Play Series game against Spurs, before heading to London for a second straight friendly against the Premier League club on Aug. 10.

When Spurs and defender Van de Ven will return to training is unclear, but there will be roughly three weeks from the quarterfinals to their first scheduled game: Against Japanese team Vissel Kobe in Japan on July 27.

If they advance to the semifinals, players won't leave the Euros until July 11, while the final is not scheduled until July 14.

When players are able to rejoin their club for preseason may be out of both their and the league's control — according to a source familiar with Premier League regulations, players must have three weeks of uninterrupted vacation every summer, and the Euros schedule means they will not have had that break already. Whether that is a FIFA rule or a league rule is unclear — FIFA has not responded to a request to comment from the Korea JoongAng Daily as of press time — but Bayern is likely to have a similar policy.

The same issue applies to players in the Copa America — Bayern's Alphonso Davies of Canada and Tottenham's Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso from Argentina and Rodrigo Bentancur of Uruguay — who are all through to the quarterfinals starting Thursday.

The Copa America final will also take place on July 14.

The absence of star players like Bayern striker Kane could reduce the drama of the Bayern and Spurs clash during the Coupang Play Series, as it is the first time the English striker would face his former teammate and Spurs captain Son Heung-min since he left the London side to join Bayern last year.

For some players it might not be entirely bad news — Bentancur is likely to face a very frosty reception if he does make it to Korea after commenting earlier in the summer that all Koreans "look the same."

Tottenham's Harry Kane, left, Son Heung-min greet fans at the end of a Premier League match against West Ham at London Stadium in London on Aug. 31, 2022. [AP/YONHAP]

The Euros quarterfinals begin on Friday, with Spain facing host country Germany and Portugal taking on France. England clash with Switzerland the next day, and the Netherlands play Turkey later that day.

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