JAKARTA - South Korea is anxiously awaiting news from captain Son Heung-min whether he is ready to be fielded or still has to wait as the Asian giant begins an adventure in the Qatar 2022 World Cup by challenging Uruguay who is more experienced in this tournament.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker suffered a broken bone around his left eye three weeks ago and was forced to train while wearing a black protective mask like Zorro.
Given that their next opponents in Group H are Portugal and Ghana, Son's presence is a guarantee they can terrorize Uruguay's defense which is very important for South Korea to pick up early points so it's not too heavy in the face of the next two matches.
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"We have to check and analyze it every day, let him come," South Korean coach Paulo Bento said of Son's chances of going down to defend his team against Uruguay.
"We still have time to make the right and best decisions for all of us," he continued.
Son himself definitely wants to play but he doesn't want to take the risk from being too forced to be fatal to his future in this tournament.
Uruguay does not face complicated problems like this. Precisely with the joint squad of seniors and youngs, they are dark horses who can repeat the success of world champions that they have felt twice. Their young players are certainly eager to make a big record in their first World Cup.
Among Uruguay's young blood of concern was Liverpool's most expensive signing, Darwin Nunez, who is expected to be paired up front with aging striker Luis Suarez who became the main character behind Uruguay's charming journey during the 2010 World Cup when they stepped into the semifinals.
At the age of 23, Nunez was 12 years younger than Suarez and Edinson Cavani, both of whom played their fourth World Cup. Likewise, the Uruguay captain and player most often defended the national team, Diego Godin.
The senior names are still a guarantee of success. But their young line is no less charming, 13 of which are World Cup debutants, including Real Madrid all-round midfielder Federico Valverde and Manchester United's Facundo Pelistri, and Rodrigo Bentancur who are in their best form in midfield which makes Uruguay's squad evenly quality and strength.
Coach Diego Alonso himself views the composition of seniors and juniors in his team as a gift. He believes Uruguay can return to winning this World Cup which they did in 1930 and 1950.
But behind the promising squad, Alonso actually has a gap that South Korea can exploit, namely their field of defense. Moreover, until this writing was revealed, Uruguay was still uncertain whether their pillar, which some time ago underwent thigh surgery, Ronald Araujo, could be played against South Korea, which four years ago appeared surprising against Germany.
Uruguay must also be wary of the effects of Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina to the Asian teams, which were followed by traces of Japan overthrowing Germany a day later.
Uruguay has reached the World Cup finals 14 times, while South Korea has done so 11 times. But both teams did not have a good record in their opening matches.
South Korea lost or drew in the first match of their last two World Cups, while Uruguay failed to win their opener in six of their last seven editions.
Predictions of the first eleven players
South Korea (4-3-3): Kim Seung-gyu; Kim Moon-hwan, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Min-jae, Kim Jin-su; Jung Woo-Young, Hwang In-beom, Lee Jae-sung; Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo
Uruguay (4-3-3): Sergio Rochet; Guilermo Varela, Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez, Mathias Olivera; Rodrigo Bentancur, Matias Vecino, Federico Valverde; Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez.
Important statistics of both teams
Prior to this, the two teams had met with Uruguay's record of winning six times, including twice at the 1990 and 2010 World Cups. Korea has only won once in its last meeting with Uruguay in a friendly match in 2018.
For Uruguay who won the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, Qatar World Cup is the 14th World Cup finals.
Uruguay has always made it to the knockout stages in his last three appearances after failing in 2006 and reaching the quarter-finals in Russia four years ago.
South Korea, which was in the tenth consecutive and total World Cup finals, failed to pass the group stage in the last two editions of the tournament.
South Korea's best performance in the World Cup was reaching the semifinals of the 2002 edition and then losing to Germany.
Uruguay has not won his opener in six of his last seven World Cup appearances, but won all of his three group stage matches in Russia in 2018 without a single goal conceded.
South Korea has never won its opening game in the last two editions of the World Cup and won two of its last nine World Cup games, including when they overthrew Germany, then the reigning champions with 2-0 in 2018.
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