It appears that those born in 1992, who were the main players of the Korean national soccer team, are slowly giving up their starting positions to younger players. Five players born in 1992 were listed on the October A-match roster. ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Ui-jo (Norwich City), Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), Moon Seon-min, and Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk). Their skills are on the rise. Son Heung-min ranks second in scoring, scoring 6 goals in 8 games in the English Premier League this season. After returning to his original team Nottingham Forest this season, Hwang Ui-jo went on loan to Norwich City in the English Championship (2nd division) and played in 7 games and did not score a single goal, but he still has the competitive edge to play in Europe. Lee Jae-seong also plays as a starting midfielder for Mainz in the German Bundesliga. Moon Seon-min and Kim Jin-soo are Jeonbuk's key resources.
However, except for Son Heung-min and Lee Jae-seong, the presence of players born in 1992 in the national team A has decreased significantly. Hwang Ui-jo has only appeared as a starter in 1 game out of the 6 A matches he played in 2023. It looks like they lost their starting striker role to Jo Gyu-seong (Midtjylland), born in 1998. However, he showed his true value in the match against Tunisia on the 13th. Hwang Ui-jo, who replaced Cho Gyu-seong in the 22nd minute of the second half, dug into the space behind the opponent's defender and hit the net in the extra time of the second half when the team was ahead 3-0. Moon Seon-min has been used as a joker, and Kim Jin-su has given up his starting role to Lee Ki-je (32, Suwon) after suffering a facial injury. Missed the game against Tunisia. There is a rotation aspect and a management aspect since he has just recovered from an injury, but the prevailing assessment is that in the long term, the left fullback should also be lowered in age.
Son Heung-min, who joined the A national team with a groin injury, missed the Tunisia match. Even after joining the A national team, he seemed to be focusing on recovery. After the Tunisia game ended, he left something meaningful to say. "I'm proud of the players for doing so well even without me. Something like this (missing out due to injury) could happen one day. Even if it wasn't me, it could have been another player, but they handled it well. I think they gained confidence with many goals, and things like this could have happened." “I wish we could play more often.”
In the Tunisia match, when Son Heung-min was absent, Lee Kang-in (22, Paris Saint-Germain) emerged as a 'solver'. He scored multiple goals, including his A match debut goal, leading the team to a 4-0 win. The first half attack without Son Heung-min was frustrating, but Lee Kang-in scored multiple goals with a fantastic free kick winning goal in the 10th minute of the second half and a turning shot in the 12th minute of the second half.
Attention is being paid to whether Son Heung-min will walk the ‘Park Ji-sung Road’ of 12 years ago. Park Ji-sung (42, retired), who was the 'star of Asian soccer', led the team to advance to the round of 16 for the first time at the 2010 South Africa World Cup, and retired from the national team A along with Lee Young-pyo (46, retired) after the 2011 Qatar Asian Cup. Coincidentally, Son Heung-min achieved a miraculous round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and is preparing for the 2024 Qatar Asian Cup in January next year.
However, the situation for Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min is different. At the time Park Ji-sung announced his retirement from the A national team, his knee was not in good condition. Park Ji-sung's knees were a 'time bomb' at the time, with water filling up his knees every time he took a long flight from England to Korea for his international matches. On the other hand, Son Heung-min's physical condition is at its prime. He has been in good condition since undergoing facial fracture and sports hernia surgery last season. Although Son Heung-min is embroiled in a 'overwork controversy' due to the bad schedule of having to play for both his own team and national team A, Son Heung-min's stance is, "I don't want to receive preferential treatment alone." However, in order for Son Heung-min to accept the extension contract offered by Tottenham and play soccer for a longer time, there will come a time when he will have to retire from the national team. Park Ji-sung was 30 years old when he put down the Taegeuk symbol.