As a warmup for the vital World Cup Qualifier next week, South Korea host Canada in an international friendly on Friday evening. The game will take place at the Cheonan Stadium, with a healthy crowd expected. Previews, Predictions and More here;
South Korea vs. Canada – Preview and Prediction (Friday November 11th 2016 at 8pm – Local Time)
South Korea:
South Korea have a strong recent history regarding World Cup Qualification, having made the finals 8 times on the bounce now. With their best performance coming in 2002 when they reached the Semi-Finals on home soil. Now under the leadership of German coach Uli Stielike they looked inconsistent so far during qualification, easing past the 2nd round group stage. But during the 3rd round they’ve dropped points against Syria and Iran. This friendly match will be a good chance to iron out some of their issues ahead of the Uzbekistan game next week.
Key Player: Tottenham Hotspur Striker Son Heung-Min (valued around $30million) has had a wonderful start to the Premier League Season scoring 4 goals in 5 league games, as well as scoring during the Europa League. He’s scored 7 goals so far during world cup qualification, including the winner against Qatar. He has scored previously at the Cheonan Stadium for South Korea against Mali back in 2013.
Canada:
Canada doesn’t exactly have an impressive footballing history with Ice Hockey being the main national sport. They’ve won the CONCACAF Gold Cup twice both in 1985 and 2000, they have also once qualified for the World Cup back in 1986. They’re sadly already out of the 2018, losing out in 2nd round of qualification. Recently they played a couple of friendlies in North Africa beating Mauritania 4-0, before losing to Morocco by the same 4-0 margin.
Key Player: 21 year old Orlando City forward Cyle Larin stands out, 14 goals this past MLS season put in among the top goalscorers in the league. He will be the main danger moving forward. Former Newcastle and Burnley defender David Edgar bring experience into the back line.
Head-to-Head:
These sides have played each other 4 times before with the first encounter coming back in 1993 with the record looking like this;
South Korea 1
Draws 1
Canada 2
The first two encounters were friendlies back in 1993 with each side winning 2-0. The other two games come in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, one ended 0-0 (in 2000) and the other Canada won 2-1 (in 2002). Former Incheon United Manager scored in that match for both sides.
Prediction:
South Korea 2 – 1 Canada
It’s a friendly match so it will be a chance to try out some new options, but with the Uzbekistan game coming next week it won’t be a time to risk injuries etc. Korea on paper are much stronger and we see them winning, with Canada maybe scoring a consolation goal late on.
South Korea vs. Canada (International Friendly) Result & photos
South Korea v Canada
Report Coming Soon
Finally
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Tim
Modern Seoul
tim@modernseoul.org
Modern Seoul 