It ended the game without much crisis against Jordan. It was a game where the stability of the defense shone more than the attack.
The biggest weakness of the Korean national team under former coach Jurgen Klinsmann was its defense. At the last Asian Cup, Korea allowed as many as 10 goals in six matches it played throughout the group stage and tournament rounds. Its defense was so poor that it allowed six goals in the group stage alone.
In September, when Hong Myung-bo took office for the first time, there was also a shake in defense. Despite the draw, he faced several run crises against Palestine and allowed one run against Oman.
The match against Jordan was different. In the third Asian qualifying match for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Jordan in Amman, Jordan, on the 10th, Hong Myung-bo scored no runs. There was no big crisis as Jordan had only two shots on goal.
Cho Yoo-min (Sharja) is at the center. Hong formed the central defense line with Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Cho Yoo-min. It was a formation with Kim Min-jae on the left and Cho Yoo-min on the right.
Cho displayed stable defense and secured a spot in the four-back. Cho, who showed strength in interpersonal marks and provisional rights, dominated the competition with Jordanian striker. Ali Olwan, who started, was replaced in the second half without much performance. With accurate passes, Cho also served as a starting point for the build-up from the back. The pass success rate was 95.4 percent, which was high in accuracy. It was a good performance as Kim Min-jae’s partner.
Cho Yoo-min was born in 1996 and is the same age as Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan. He was a member of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but has not settled down as a main player in the national team since then. He also boarded the Hong Myung-bo in September, but did not have a chance to play.
Hong excluded veteran center back Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan HD) ahead of the A-match in October. He meant to change the center back line. Kim Joo-sung (FC Seoul), who uses his left foot like Kim, was expected to make a change, but Hong selected Cho Yoo-min as the starting member.
Cho’s joining as the top 11 player and subsequent scoreless game deserve a green light to Hong Myung-bo. Like Kim Min-jae, Cho will be able to display his best skills as a center back in two years. At the age of 30, he will become an athlete with experience and audience, while his physical ability hardly declines compared to his heyday. This means that it is not a bad choice even if we look at the future. 토토사이트
