S. Korea coach to keep focus on own team vs. Salah-less Egypt

South Korea’s final friendly match of June will come against an undermanned Egypt team on Tuesday, with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah being the most notable absence, and perhaps the game will not be the kind of a stern test that South Korea would have wanted in their preparation for the World Cup.

However, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento said Monday that he couldn’t care less about who will be playing or who will not be playing on the opposite side. He wants his players to take the same approach.

“I don’t look for teams just because they have big names, big talent. We look for teams, first of all, in a collective way, what they can do in every moment of the game,” Bento said at an online press conference from the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers north of Seoul. “Most important is we focus on ourselves, respecting the opponent, but try to do our best in this game in order to grow up as a team. That’s the goal for tomorrow.”

South Korea head coach Paulo Bento speaks during an online press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, 30 kilometers north of Seoul, on June 13, 2022, the eve of a friendly match against Egypt, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

South Korea will host Egypt at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. Tuesday. It will be the fourth and final friendly match for the Taeguk Warriors this month. They lost to Brazil 5-1 on June 2 but bounced back to defeat Chile 2-0 four days later. Last Friday, South Korea rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 2-2 draw with Paraguay.

Egypt will be without Salah, who shared the Premier League Golden Boot with the South Korean captain Son Heung-min this past season. According to Egyptian media reports, a few other players who had faced Ethiopia in an African Cup of Nations qualifying match last week, including Omar Marmoush of VfB Stuttgart, will not be available against South Korea.

Bento said it will be “difficult to predict” how Tuesday’s match will play out because of these absences. South Korea won’t have a full squad, either. Having already lost center back Kim Min-jae and midfielder Jung Woo-young to injuries, Bento said Monday midfielder Hwang In-beom, another mainstay in the starting XI, will miss Tuesday’s match.

Hwang “is not in condition to play tomorrow,” Bento said, without elaborating.

Amid the mounting injuries, Bento still wouldn’t commit to giving new players a chance to play. Two out of four goalkeepers and five outfield players have been glued to the bench through the first three matches.

“Maybe some of our players will have an opportunity to play,” Bento said. “We’ll see what the team needs for tomorrow. We’ll try to choose the best starting XI and the best strategy and the best tactical system.”

While the first three matches produced mixed results, Bento said he has been pleased with the way his players have responded to adversity.

“One of the best aspects in this training camp and in the (three previous) games was the reaction we had,” Bento said. “First, in the game against Chile, after the defeat against Brazil. And during the game against Paraguay, when we were losing 2-0 and we were able to draw the game, keep playing with our style, not lose the head and change our style of playing. This is the good aspect that we should retain and that will help us in the future, for sure.”