FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN have the toughest of challenges today as they seek to quell hot favourites South Korea’s quest to end their 64-year wait for their first title in Asia’s top men’s football competition.
The two sides meet later today in their opening Group E encounter of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup at the 15,000-seater Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
Despite not being able to lift the trophy after triumphing in the first two editions of the tournament, South Korea have finished runners-up on four occasions over the past six decades, most recently to Australia in 2015, and are laden with players who play in top European leagues.
The most notable is their skipper Son Heung-min – who also captains English Premier League (EPL) side Tottenham Hotspur and was tied for third in the Golden Boot race with 12 goals this season when he joined the South Korean team to prepare for the Asian Cup.
He is backed up in attack by teammate Hwang Hee-chan who has scored 10 goals this season for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) midfielder Lee Kang-in, who scored the first of PSG’s two goals in their 2-0 win over Toulouse in the French Super Cup just 12 days ago.
Centre-back Kim Min-jae, who helped Napoli to their first Italian Serie A title in 33 years last spring and has turned out for German giants Bayern Munich this season, will bolster South Korea’s defence while midfielders Hwang In-beom, who plays for Serbian club Crvena Zvezda, and Lee Jae-sung, who is a key player for Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga, will add to their firepower.
Yet, despite the odds being stacked heavily against Bahrain and most observers stating they were not wondering if South Korea would triumph but how many goals they would win by, head coach German legend Jurgen Klinsmann said categorically yesterday that he expected the encounter to be a very difficult one.
“Based on information we’ve collected, we’ll have a very difficult game,” Klinsmann, who played 108 matches for Germany from 1987-1998 and was part of the West Germany team that won the 1990 Fifa World Cup and in the unified German team that triumphed in the Uefa Euro 1996, said at a pre-match Press conference in Doha.
“We do not underestimate the Bahrain team, not even for one second. We have a lot of respect for them and will have to bring our best to win this game.”
Meanwhile, Bahrain head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi who, like Klinsmann, took charge just last year, said that he had great confidence that his players would step up to the challenge against South Korea.
“We know exactly how tough the match is going to be and the strength of the opposition we will face,” he said at the Press conference.
“We know that South Korea have extremely good players with superb technical skills and who are extremely experienced from playing in top-tier international leagues.
“But I have great confidence that our players will step up and perform well as we seek an important win in our start to the tournament.”
Bahrain will be led by Sayed Mohammed Jaffer, their 38-year-old vastly experienced goalkeeper who has played 151 matches for the national team since making his debut in 2004.
And their attack will be led by 6’4” striker Abdulla Yusuf Helal who is just three games away from reaching a 100 appearances for Bahrain while winger Ali Madan and midfielders Komail Al Aswad and Mohamed Marhoon will back him up.
“We know that they have elite players,” Pizzi continued.
“In order for us to compete, we need every player to give 100 per cent. We cannot rely on one or two players – we need all 11 to deliver a great performance.
“Right now, our objective is to qualify for the round of 16. We have individual skills, we have a strong midfield and we will try to use our link-up play to good effect.”
Bahrain are widely expected to take a more defensive tack against South Korea, in an obvious attempt to blunt their powerful attack, and Klinsmann said his team would have to adjust accordingly.
“If Bahrain play in a more defensive style, we have to adjust to what we face, respect that and find solutions,” he explained.
“In our last few games, we faced some teams who played defensively and we did quite well. Even if you play defensive-minded teams, they can always hurt you with counter-breaks and set-pieces.
“We have to be very alert. Adjustments to the style of the other team will always be the topic in this tournament.”
Kick-off is at 2.30pm, Bahrain time.
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