SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has finished its preparations for the World Cup. with a 1-0 win over Iceland on Friday.
Gimcheon Sangmu’s defender Park Ji-soo suffered an injury in the first half that could jeopardize his availability for the tournament.
Song Min-kyu scored the only goal of the match in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, with a header to the far post from Cho Gue-sung’s cross in the 33rd minute.
The locals dominated the game but could not add a second goal.
Making their 10th consecutive World Cup appearance, South Korea will face Uruguay, Ghana and Portugal in their group. Manager Paulo Bento is set to announce his 26-man squad for Qatar on Saturday and, despite Son Heung-min’s injury, he is expected to select the team’s top scorer and inspirational captain..
Son underwent surgery last week for a broken eye socket suffered in a collision while playing for Tottenham against Marseille in the Champions League group stage on November 1.
“Playing for your country in the World Cup is the dream of so many children growing up, as was mine,” Son said on social media. “I won’t miss this for the world. I can’t wait to represent our beautiful country.”
Korea’s opening game in Qatar is against Uruguay on November 24.
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