The national soccer team has been attacked by a half-space again. A half-space is the space between the two sides and the center of a soccer field when it is divided into five lengthwise sections. Following in the footsteps of Paulo Bento, there are concerns that Jürgen Klinsmann may not be able to solve the half-space problem in South Korea’s defense.
Klinsmann’s side lost 0-1 to Peru in an exhibition match at the Busan Asiad Stadium on Sept. 16.
In the game, South Korea was exploited in the half-space. Defensive midfielder Won Doo-jae hastily pressed forward and was intercepted by an opponent’s pass. Central defender Jeong Seung-hyun followed up to fill the space, but was exposed by a wall pass from Paolo Guerrero and his teammate. Park Ji-soo and Ahn Hyun-beom also moved into the center to fill the space.
Guerrero, a 39-year-old veteran, took advantage of the space created by South Korea’s lack of forward pressure. Guerrero played a kill pass to Brian Reyna in the opposite half, and Reyna finished easily with a left-footed shot.
The problem is that this is a recurring theme for the South Korean soccer team in the half-space. Opponents have seen the weaknesses in the Korean defense’s half-space defense and are targeting it heavily.
This problem started before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. On Sept. 23 last year, South Korea conceded a goal in the first 40 minutes of an exhibition match against Costa Rica after failing to stop Bennett from penetrating the half-space. In the second half, they conceded a goal in the 19th minute when they were easily penetrated by a Costa Rican attack through the half-space.
The half-space defense was also a problem in the main stage of the Qatar World Cup. In the fifth minute of the third group game against Portugal on Dec. 3 last year, Kim Jin-soo was unable to stop Ricardo Horta from breaking into the half-space when he was set up by Diogo Dalot. Horta received Dalot’s cutback pass and rattled the net with ease.
The World Cup Round of 16 match against Brazil in Qatar was the epitome of the half-space problem. All four goals conceded came from half-space defenses.
In the 7th minute, Hapinha broke through the half-space and sent a groundball cross to Vinicius in the opposite half-space, who finished untouched. It was also in the half-space that Hischarlisson’s goal in the 28th minute began. In the fourth, Neymar and Vinicius easily penetrated the half-space to set up Paqueta’s goal.
The problem hasn’t been fixed since Klinsmann took over.
In his debut match against Colombia on March 24, Klinsmann was unable to stop Baloyes from getting into the half-space in the first minute of the second half, resulting in a goal from the onrushing Jamez Rodriguez.
After being exploited in a similar way against Colombia and now against Peru, improving the half-space defense has become a priority for Klinsmann.
In order to defend the half-space, it is important for the central defense and the side defense to work together. In some respects, there were problems with cooperation and communication between the existing central defense (Kim Min-jae and Kim Young-kwon) and the flank defense (Kim Jin-soo and Kim Moon-hwan), which were revealed through a series of conceded goals. 토토사이트
There was also a lack of support from the midfield and flankers to prevent opponents from penetrating the half-space. The fact that the defense of the half-space has become even more fragile at a time when the team as a whole is losing fitness and concentration shows that there is a problem with the involvement of the midfielders and flankers in the defense. 토토사이트주소
It is imperative that Klinsmann addresses these issues if the team is to achieve its goal of winning the Asian Cup in Qatar next January. A solid defense is essential for success in international competitions.
With Kim Min-jae’s basic military training and Kim Young-kwon’s injury, Klinsmann will have fewer opportunities to address the half-space defense issue during the June A match, and it will be interesting to see if he can find a solution before the Asian Cup.