S. Korea confirm venues for football friendlies vs. Uruguay, Panama

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) — South Korea on Tuesday confirmed the venues for the friendly football matches against Uruguay and Panama next month.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said the men’s national football team will take on Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 12 and play Panama at Cheonan Stadium in Cheonan, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 16. Both matches will kick off at 8 p.m.

South Korea will have their first men’s national team football match in the nation’s capital since Aug. 31, 2017, when they welcomed Iran in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

South Korea played their first two matches with new head coach Paulo Bento to sell-out crowds. Bento’s side beat Costa Rica 2-0 in Goyang, north of Seoul and had a 0-0 draw with Chile in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

The last time South Korea played at a sold out 66,000-seated Seoul World Cup was in October 2013 when South Korea hosted Brazil in a friendly match.

The KFA expects South Korean football fans to pack the stadium since Uruguay, currently ranked No. 5 in the latest FIFA rankings, have stars like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

Meanwhile, South Korea will also visit Cheonan for the first time since November 2016. South Korea then beat Canada 2-0 in a friendly match.

This file photo, taken Sept. 11, 2018, shows South Korean fans watching a friendly football match between South Korea and Chile at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)