(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-ho = The Korean men's national soccer team, whose 'motivation' has faded as the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup has been postponed for nearly a year, departs for Qatar to play two consecutive A matches (Saudi Arabia on the 13th and Qatar on the 17th) in November.
The Korean national soccer team, led by interim coach Robert Moreno, will convene at Incheon International Airport late in the afternoon on the 8th and depart for Doha, Qatar.
The national team will face Saudi Arabia at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, at 11:30 p.m. on the 13th, Korean time, and will face Qatar at 11 p.m. on the 17th at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The eight Taegeuk warriors departing from Korea on this day include Dong-kyung Lee, Hyun-woo Cho, Hyun-taek Cho (Ulsan), Bong-soo Kim, Myeong-jae Lee (Daejeon), Jeong-beom Son, Jun Choi (Seoul), and Tae-jun Park (Gimcheon). Song Bum-geun (Jeonbuk) and Shin Min-ha (Gangwon) will leave a day late due to their team's schedule.
Overseas Taegeuk warriors head directly to Doha, Qatar.
‘Captains’ Son Heung-min (LAFC), Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke), Hwang In-beom (Porto), Kim Min-jae (Munich), and Seol Young-woo (Augsburg) are scheduled to join the national team accommodation in Doha one by one from the morning to the evening of the 9th, local time.
In addition, Coach Moreno, who announced the national team roster last month and immediately went on a business trip to Europe to watch the UEFA Champions League (UCL) match between Lee Kang-in (Atlético Madrid), Kim Min-jae (Munich), and Hwang In-beom (Porto), will arrive in Doha, Qatar at dawn on the 9th, local time, and begin preparations for the international match.
Moreno's primary task as he prepares for the second international match this November is to resolve the creaking internal conflict of the Taegeuk Warriors.
'Same-age players born in 1996' Hwang Hee-chan, Hwang In-beom, and Kim Min-jae made a fuss about retiring from the national team after the match against Uzbekistan, which was the final game of the four-game warm-up match in September and October, raising concerns among fans.
It all started with the disappointment of the 96 line members who felt disappointed in communication with ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min during the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.
Fortunately, the uproar was put to an end when Hwang In-beom directly told the reporters, "There is no retirement," but the flames of conflict within the national team are still not extinguished.
In the midst of all this, Coach Moreno summoned all 96 lines, including Son Heung-min, for the two-game international match in November and emphasized, "We met face-to-face with the players to solve problems and talked a lot among the players. The national team is in very good health."
Coach Moreno also had no choice but to call up all 'key overseas players' as his ability to lead the national team until the 2027 Asian Cup will be determined based on the results of the two-game international match in November.
However, as AFC announced that it would postpone the Asian Cup, which was scheduled for January next year, to December of that year due to political instability in the Middle East, Morenojo quickly lost motivation for the two-game international match in November.
As the Asian Cup, which was an immediate goal, was postponed, interim coach Moreno, whose contract with the Football Association expires on the 27th, became uncertain whether his contract would be renewed, and the tension in the 'competition for the starting position' was relaxed for the Taegeuk Warriors.
In the end, Morenojo's main task became to resolve the uncomfortable relationship between the most senior line, 'Son Heung-min vs. 96 line', and to be reborn as a true team in the two-game international match in November.
Moreno will undergo a 'complete training' in which all 26 Taegeuk warriors will participate starting on the afternoon of the 10th, local time.
Attention is being paid to whether Morenojo, who is faced with rumors of discord among top-level players and disappointing performance, will be able to regain the attention of fans who had temporarily turned their backs on him through two consecutive international matches in November.
