Interest in the soccer world of both countries has increased over the upcoming Korea-Japan match in June, but the Korea Football Association denies it and it seems to end in an incident. Even if it does not happen this time, it is expected that Korea will have to face Japan at least once to win the Asian Cup in January next year.

Japanese media Sports Nippon said on the 12th,안전놀이터 “Korea has re-emerged as the opponent of the Japanese national team’s A match in June,” and “Korea was also a candidate for the March A match. Korea hopes to play against Japan this year. Discussing the June match. “, raising expectations for the Korea-Japan war.

Then, the Korea Football Association dismissed the possibility. An official from the association said on the day, “Recently, we have been cooperating with the Japan Football Association while preparing for the A match. It seems that the talk of ‘if there is no opponent, let’s do it by ourselves’ while working-level officials contacted us, it seems to have been misrepresented.” We have not officially discussed anything about it. There is no plan for the evaluation match with Japan.”

The Korea-Japan exhibition has been steadily open. The Korean national soccer team has fought against Japan 81 times and recorded 42 wins, 23 draws and 16 losses. Despite continuing to play as arch rivals, the news of the match between Korea and Japan caught the attention of football fans from both countries because of whether Son Heung-min (Tottenham), the captain and key player, participated.

In the 2010s, Japan used its best members in the Korea-Japan match from time to time, but Korea did not participate in the Korea-Japan match with the best power in the meantime. Son Heung-min, the core of his power, has not played in the A-match Korea-Japan match for 12 years since 2011.

Son Heung-min has not played against Korea and Japan since January 2011, when he was substituted in the 37th minute of the second half of the Asian Cup semifinals. In September 2018, he played in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games Final against Japan, but it was not an A match because it was a team match under the age of 23, the national team by age.

While Son Heung-min was not playing, 7 A matches were held between Korea and Japan, and Korea recorded 2 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses. Five of the seven games were held in the East Asian Cup, and the other two were friendly matches. In March 2021, the last evaluation match, Korea lost 0-3, allowing one goal each to Europeans Daichi Kamada and Wataru Endo.

The reason why Son Heung-min did not play against Korea and Japan was because it was a game of low importance. Due to the high rankings of FIFA, Korea and Japan were seeded each time in the Asian World Cup qualifiers and played in different groups. In the final qualifying round, they could have been placed in one group through a lottery, but in the 21st century, the two countries have never been assigned to the same group in the final qualifying round.

In the Asian Cup, a major tournament with the best power, both countries had to advance to the semifinals or finals in order for the Korea-Japan match to take place due to seeding. However, the confrontation did not take place as Korea and Japan were eliminated midway. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup last year, if the two countries reached the quarterfinals, they could face each other, but both Korea and Japan were eliminated in the round of 16.

If Son Heung-min, the nucleus of Korean tactics, plays against Japan, the situation may change. In the meantime, the national team has disappointed football fans by being pushed back in the match against Korea and Japan, but if Son Heung-min joins the team, a different result can come out.

The match between Korea and Japan in June seems to have been canceled, but the wait for soccer fans does not seem to be very long. The Asian Cup bracket for January next year will be confirmed on the 11th of next month. Depending on the lottery results, there is a possibility that Korea and Japan will meet in the round of 16 or the quarterfinals. Both countries are expected to put in the best of their abilities while aiming for the championship, so if the match between Korea and Japan takes place this time, Son Heung-min is likely to participate.