International Friendly: Will Klinsmann Get His First Win for South Korea?

Korea Republic vs Peru

South Korea are gearing up for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, and they’re wasting no time to prepare ahead of January 2024.

This year, South Korea will compete in three more exhibition matches. This should give Jurgen Klinsmann, who replaced Paulo Bento in February, enough time to implement his playstyle.

First up for the Taeguk Warriors are Peru, and this International Friendly isn’t going to be a walk in the park despite being the favourite to win, according to the pre-game SBOTOP betting odds.

Despite having a stronger roster on paper, South Korea (No. 27) are ranked lower than Peru (No. 21) in the updated FIFA men’s rankings, and it doesn’t help that they will miss the services of their star forward.

Talking Points

South Korea won’t have Son

Heung-Min Son is not available for these next few exhibition matches as he’s still recovering from a sports hernia. Two weeks ago, the South Korean fan-favourite went under the knife after playing Tottenham’s final game of the season.

Thankfully, the sports hernia injury is said to not be that serious for Son, so he’s expected to be back in action soon for the Taeguk Warriors.

In the meantime, Jurgen Klinsmann will have to mix it up, and he has a couple of players who could fill in for the Tottenham winger.

Lee Kang-In will have more opportunities up front with Heung-Min Son sidelined. He just signed for PSG next season, and he will get to prove why he deserves his new contract.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder was directly involved in 13 goals for Mallorca this season, and he has been linked to multiple clubs such as Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa prior to joining the Parisiens.

Hwang Hee-Chan and Hwang Ui-Jo will also get their chances this week. Hwang Hee-Chan will look to regain his confidence after a subpar campaign with the Wolves, while the same is the case for Hwang Ui-Jo, who is aiming to establish himself as part of Nottingham Forest’s rotation next season.

Another name that will feature prominently in these next few days is their centre-back, Kim Min-Jae.

After helping Napoli lift their first Scudetto in more than three decades, the 26-year-old became one of the hottest commodities in the transfer market, with the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United, and Chelsea interested.

Peru will lean on their ol’ reliables

Head coach and national team icon Juan Reynoso may be relatively new to the job, but he has a veteran squad to work with, which surely helps as he tries to implement his new ideas.

Experienced campaigners Yoshimar Yotun, Gianluca Lapadula, Pedro Gallese, and Andre Carrillo have 333 caps combined. Despite being in their 30s, they are still capable of playing at a high level, and they will aim to re-establish Peru as one of the top nations in the Americas.

The problem for Peru, though, is finding the back of the net because they haven’t scored since their 2-0 victory against Paraguay last year in the World Cup qualifiers.

 In their last two recent friendlies against Germany and Morocco, Peru have scored zero goals while conceding two on the other end.

History

This is going to be South Korea’s third meeting against Peru. The Taeguk Warriors haven’t beaten Los Incas at all, as they had a draw and a loss in their two earlier matches.

Since Klinsmann took over as head coach, South Korea haven’t won a game. They were held to a 2-2 draw against Colombia in his debut in March and then suffered a 2-1 defeat against Uruguay four days later.

Peru, meanwhile, are not in their best form either, as they lost 2-0 to Germany and were held to a heated goalless draw against Morocco in March.

Since replacing Ricardo Gareca last year, Juan Reynoso has registered three wins, two losses, and one draw in his first six matches as Peru’s boss.

Betting Tip

The International Friendly 2023 odds like Korea Republic’s chances to win on Friday since they’ll be playing at home in the Busan Asiad Stadium. The hosts are installed at 1.91 to win, while a Peru win or draw is priced at 3.35 in the 1X2 market.

We don’t expect South Korea to secure a clean sheet, as it has been the case since Jurgen Klinsmann took over, which means that we should see goals in the International Friendly 2023 highlights reel.

Other than betting on a close victory for South Korea, also going for Total Goal 2-3 at 1.82 is not a bad idea. 

 

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