Seoul (AFP) – South Korea left Sunday for their pre-World Cup camp with youngster Lee Seung-woo in their final 23-man squad and Swansea midfielder Ki Sung-yeung named as captain.
Tottenham’s talismanic forward Son Heung-min leads the Taeguk Warriors front line, though Crystal Palace midfielder Lee Chung-yong failed to make it to a third World Cup when he was cut late Saturday from the 28-man provisional squad before they departed for a pre-World Cup camp in Austria.
Lee Seung-woo, the 20-year-old winger who plays for Verona in Italy, was the surprise name retained in the 23 after making his debut just six days ago in Monday’s 2-0 friendly win over Honduras.
He did enough in Friday’s disappointing 3-1 defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina to convince coach Shin Tae-yong to give him the nod for the tournament in Russia, which begins on June 14.
South Korea will have two further warm-up matches, against Bolivia in Innsbruck on Thursday and against Senegal behind closed doors in Grodig on June 11, before flying to their World Cup base camp in Saint Petersburg on June 12.
The 2002 World Cup semi-finalists have been drawn in a tough Group F where they will open their campaign against Sweden in Nizhny Novgorod on June 18.
They then face Mexico on June 23 in Rostov-on-Don before taking on the might of defending champions Germany on June 27 in Kazan.
South Korea final World Cup squad (KOR clubs unless stated):
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Vissel Kobe/JPN), Kim Jin-hyeon (Cerezo Osaka/JPN), Cho Hyun-woo (Daegu FC)
Defenders: Kim Young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande/CHN), Jang Hyun-soo (FC Tokyo/JPN), Jung Seung-hyeon (Sagan Tosu/JPN), Yun Yong-sun (Seongnam FC), Oh Ban-suk (Jeju United), Kim Min-woo (Sangju Sangmu), Park Joo-ho (Ulsan Hyundai), Hong Chul (Sangju Sangmu), Go Yo-han (FC Seoul), Lee Yong (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
Midfielders: Ki Sung-yueng (Swansea City/ENG), Jung Woo-young (Vissel Kobe/JPN), Ju Se-jong (Asan Mugunghwa FC), Koo Ja-cheol (Augsburg/GER), Lee Jae-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Lee Seung-woo (Hellas Verona/ITA), Moon Seon-min (Incheon United)
Forwards: Kim Shin-wook (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Hwang Hee-chan (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT)
