SEOUL – Son Heung-min was named in South Korea’s squad today for the Qatar World Cup but it remains to be seen if he will play after a serious facial injury.
South Korea’s captain and talisman suffered a fracture around his left eye during a Champions League match for Tottenham and then had surgery last week.
“We are in contact with him and Tottenham’s medical department,” said South Korea’s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento as he named his squad.
“About the exact day he can train with the team, we don’t have that information,” he said.
“We need to wait, we need to analyse his situation day by day.
“We have time to decide. The most important (thing is that), he recovers as well as possible, he feels comfortable, and then we will make the final decision.”
Bento named a 27th player, forward Oh Hyeon-gyu, who will train with the team in Qatar and could replace Son if he does not make it.
South Korea’s opening match is against Uruguay on November 24.
Son, who has scored 35 goals in 106 international appearances, wrote on social media this week that “I can’t wait to represent our beautiful country, see you soon”.
South Korea also play Ghana and Portugal in Group H.
A South Korean team missing Son and other Europe-based players beat Iceland 1-0 in a home friendly today. – AFP, November 12, 2022
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