Son Heung-min, the captain and the core of the attack, will be absent. Hong Myung-bo will face Jordan, the “middle East ambush” without Son Heung-min. Jordan is the team that caused pain to the national team at the 2023 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Qatar Asian Cup. It is an opponent who suffered a crushing 0-2 defeat in the semifinal. He needs to be avenged. Son Heung-min, the most powerful offensive option, will be excluded. Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee-chan, who are from other European leagues, are expected to be at the center.
South Korea will have a showdown with Jordan at the Amman International Stadium in Jordan on Tuesday (Korea time). The team will meet with Jordan in its third away match of the third qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA Asian region. The team will have showdowns with top-ranked teams in Group B. Until the second round, South Korea had one win, one draw and three points, and Jordan had one win, one draw and four points and two points. Hong Myung-bo fell behind in multiple points and ranked second. 먹튀검증
“I feel uncomfortable because Son Heung-min is absent. However, I have to overcome this. We will have to create a new round of attack without Son.” All possibilities are open, including one-top, two-top, three-top, and zero-top. There are many players who can play in various positions and formation. It is highly likely that Son will have a substitute in place of Son, but he may change the formation to make a difference.
The most likely candidates to lead Plan B’s offense are Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee-chan. Lee Kang-in can see both attack and midfielder, and recently showed good performance as “Pulse Nine” (fake No. 9) for his team Paris Saint-Germain. He can play the role of vertex, wing forward, and shadow striker in the middle of zero-top. The same goes for Hwang Hee-chan. He is struggling with Wolverhampton Wanderers early this season, but he is expected to fill Son’s void by evenly combining speed and scoring ability.
In the end, it is highly likely that Coach Hong Myung-bo will check the players’ conditions on the day and make a basic screening. It is also likely to flexibly change the format according to the game situation. Basically, they may deploy three players for the second-line attack with one-top, and then operate the attack tactics constantly with two-top or zero-top. No matter what combination of attacks they come out with, Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee-chan must take the center and increase their energy to solve the game easily.
For Hong Myung-bo, the match against Jordan is expected to be an important moment for the team to directly advance to the 2026 World Cup finals in North Korea and the U.S. If it neatly avenges its defeat at the Asian Cup and catches Jordan on the road, it will move to the top of Group B and will be close to advancing to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time. On the contrary, if it is caught by Jordan again, it will have to walk on a thorny path. Depending on the result of the away match against Jordan in the third round, the burden of Iraq, the “powerful power in the Middle East,” which will be played at home on the 15th, will also be different.
