Friday’s friendly match between South Korea and Colombia will take place at the Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium. After participating in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year, the home team will be back in action this weekend. They made it to the last 16 but lost 4-1 to a powerful Brazil. After the Tigers of Asia were eliminated from the World Cup, Paulo Bento resigned as manager and was succeeded by Jürgen Klinsmann, a former manager for Germany.
In contrast, Colombia’s run of consecutive appearances on the global stage came to an end when it failed to qualify for the World Cup the year before. Reinaldo Rueda was fired as head coach after they failed to qualify for the World Cup. Nestor Lorenzo took over as his replacement and became the seventh Argentine coach of La Tricolor.
The visitors have had a successful first four games under Lorenzo, who is 57 years old. In those four games, the visitors have won three and drawn one. They will have high hopes for the outcome here.
Prediction
After winning five of their previous seven games, South Korea has only won one of their last four games across all competitions. They will be looking to extend that winning streak on Friday by winning their next four games at home.
In their last seven matches, Colombia has won six and drawn one. They haven’t lost in their last three away games, but this time they might have to settle for a draw.
Prediction: Korea and Colombia draw 2-2
Head-to-Head
- Seven meetings have taken place between Colombia and South Korea. In those games, the hosts have won four, while the visitors have only won once. Between the two teams, there have been two draws.
- In their most recent encounter, the hosts prevailed 2-1, making it their second consecutive victory in this fixture.
- In the seven games the visitors have played in this matchup, they have only kept one clean sheet.
- After keeping three straight clean sheets, South Korea has not kept a clean sheet in their last three games.
- In the most recent FIFA rankings, the Tricolor are ranked 17th, eight places above their opponents this weekend.
Team news
Because he has only made one appearance for the team thus far, Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu, who was given a call-up for the international break, will bring something new to the team.
One part of the South Korean group that is probably not going to change is the always present Child Heung-min, who will be supposed to include vigorously during Klinsmann’s time.
Jhon Duran is a thrilling possibility for Colombia and he has had the option to grandstand looks at his quality since joining Aston Estate, and a well disposed could be a decent opportunity to give him more minutes.
Alvaro Montero, on the other side of the field, is likely to keep his spot in goal because of the team’s strong defensive performances lately.
Lineup
South Korea
- Seung-gyu
- Moon-hwan, Kyung-won, Young-gwon, Jin-su
- In-beom, Woo-young
- Hee-chan, Kang-in, Heung-min
- Gue-sung
Colombia
- Montero
- Fabra, Llinas, Perez, Mosquera
- Campuzano
- Ruiz, Catano, Velasquez
- Duran, Hernandez
Betting Tips
Result: Goals – Over/Under 2.5 – Over 2.5 goals (four of the teams’ last five games have resulted in more than 2.5 goals) Both teams to score: Yes, as both teams have scored in four of their last five encounters.