Played
February 29, 2012 11:00 PM EST
Seoul World Cup Stadium — Seoul
Referee:‬ Y. Nishimura‎
Attendance:‬ 46551‎
 
66′ Dong-Gook Lee
 
72′ Keun-Ho Lee
 

South Korea - Kuwait Preview: Choi Kang-Hee tries to guide the Taeguk Warriors to World Cup qualifying progress

Everything is on the line for the Taeguk Warriors in Seoul on Wednesday, as they require a result to assure their place in the next phase while Kuwait chase a win to progress

By Ben Somerford

More On :  Kuwait, South Korea, South Korea vs Kuwait
Kim Jae-Sung & Alexandr Merzlyakov - Korea v Uzbekistan
Getty Images

 PROBABLE LINEUPS
SOUTH KOREA
Japan
Jung SR
Park WJ, Kwak TH, Lee JS, Choi HJ
Ki SY, Kim DH
Han SW, Park CY, Lee KH
Lee DG
KUWAIT
Iceland
Al Khaldi
Al Taher, Neda, Al Rashidi, Awadh
Nayed, Al Ansari, Al Anzi, Al Atiqi
Al Mutwa, Nasser

The Taeguk Warriors must get a result from this clash to secure their progression to the fourth and final round of qualifiers, and given the limited preparation time for this game, new coach Choi Kang-Hee has named a predominantly K-League-based squad.

However, Celtic's Ki Sung-Yueng and Arsenal's Park Chu-Young, who both missed the weekend's 4-2 win over Uzbekistan, have made the long journey and are expected to start. Park is likely to begin alongside Lee Dong-Gook who grabbed a brace against the White Wolves.

Defenders Yaqoub Al Taher and Hussein Fadel are under injury clouds for Kuwait, while coach Goran Tufegdzic has ruled out Ahmed Agab, Khaled Khalaf and Naser Al Waheb already. Al Azraq must win in Seoul, so star striker Bader Al Mutwa has a key role to play alongside emerging 21-year-old forward Yousef Nasser.


 DID YOU KNOW?
  • South Korea have won their two home group matches scoring nine goals and conceding just one.
  • Incoming Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young has scored eight goals in his past five international appearances.
  • New coach Choi Kang-Hee guided Jeonbuk Motors to the 2011 AFC Champions League final, before being handed the top Korean job.
  • Kuwait lost 2-0 to China last week in their tune-up for this clash, although Tufegdzic said it was a good hit-out in terms of acclimatising to the conditions.

  • Al-Azraq have scored five goals on their travels in this group, winning 3-2 at UAE and drawing 2-2 in Lebanon.
  • The last time these two sides met was back in September, culminating in a 1-1 draw in Kuwait.

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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
  • South Korea 0-1 Kuwait
    20.19 %
  • South Korea 1-2 Kuwait
    14.51 %
  • South Korea 2-3 Kuwait
    9.31 %
Head to Head
World Cup Qualification 2014 (Asia) ‎(WCQA)‎ 29/02/2012 South Korea 2 - Kuwait 0
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World Cup Qualification 2014 (Asia) ‎(WCQA)‎ 07/09/2011 Kuwait 1 - South Korea 1
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26/03/2013South Korea 2 - Qatar 1WCQA
07/02/2013South Korea 0 - Croatia 4FR
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17/10/2012Iran 1 - South Korea 0WCQA
11/09/2012Uzbekistan 2 - South Korea 2WCQA
Kuwait
27/03/2013Kuwait 1 - Iran 1ACQ
22/03/2013Kuwait 2 - Palestine 1FR
06/02/2013Thailand 1 - Kuwait 3ACQ
18/01/2013Kuwait 6 - Bahrain 1GC
16/01/2013UAE 1 - Kuwait 0GC
Odds
Team News
Available Squads
1Sung-Ryong JungGoalkeeper
2Hyo-Jin ChoiDefender
-Sang-Sik Kim
5Tae-Hwi KwakDefender
14Jung-Soo LeeDefender
-Won-Jae ParkDefender
-Do-Heon Kim
-Sang-Woon HanMidfielder
10Chu-Young ParkStriker
20Dong-Gook LeeStriker
9Keun-Ho LeeStriker
-Soon-Tae Kwon
21Young-Kwang KimGoalkeeper
-Chang-Soo KimDefender
-Jeong Ho HongDefender
-Sung-Hwan ChoDefender
13Chi-Woo KimMidfielder
-Hyung-Il Kim
15Beom-Seok OhDefender
-Hyung-Min ShinMidfielder
17Jae-Sung KimMidfielder
16Sung-Yong KiMidfielder
27Dae-Sung HaMidfielder
-Tae-Uk Choi
18Shin-Wook KimStriker
22Nawaf Al KhaldiGoalkeeper
3Fahad AwadDefender
-Yaqoub Abdullah Al Taher
-Mohammad Al RashediDefender
-Musaed NadaMidfielder
-Fahad Al AnsariMidfielder
-Talal Al Enezi
15Waleed Ali JumahMidfielder
-Fahad Al EneziMidfielder
17Bader Al MutawaStriker
20Yousef Al SulaimanStriker
-Khaled Al Rashidi
23Hameed YoussefGoalkeeper
9Ali Al MaqseedDefender
-Naser Al Wohaib
-Hameed Al Qallaf
-Ahmad Al Rashidi
8Saleh Al ShaikhMidfielder
18Jarah Al AteeqiMidfielder
-Khaled Al Qahtani
-Abdulaziz Ashwan
-Abdulaziz Al Enezi
-Fahad Al RashidiStriker
-Husain Al Mosawi
-Hamad Naif Al Enezi
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Younis Mahmoud Younis Mahmoud
Striker
Al Sadd 		7 1
Shinji Okazaki Shinji Okazaki
Striker
VfB Stuttgart 		7 0
Chu-Young Park Chu-Young Park
Striker
Celta 		6 0
Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Ibrahim
Striker
Al Sadd 		5 2
Keun-Ho Lee Keun-Ho Lee
Midfielder
Kitakyushu 		5 0