The South Korean national team manager Choi Kang-hee has decided to leave out the veteran striker Lee Dong-gook out of the scored for the match against Iran. South Korea will be taking on Iran in the final stage of the qualification rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Iran is currently ranked 54th in the world and will be offering a strong opposition to the hopes of South Korea qualifying for the World Cup. The 33-year-old Lee Dong-gook has vast experience of playing at international level after he has been part of the national team in the last 15 years.
The South Korean national team manager Choi Kang-hee has decided to leave out the veteran striker Lee Dong-gook out of the scored for the match against Iran. South Korea will be taking on Iran in the final stage of the qualification rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Iran is currently ranked 54th in the world and will be offering a strong opposition to the hopes of South Korea qualifying for the World Cup. The 33-year-old Lee Dong-gook has vast experience of playing at international level after he has been part of the national team in the last 15 years.
However, the manager has decided to leave him out of the squad after saying that his form in recent matches has not been good enough. At the same time, the form of the Hamburg forward Son Heung-min has been in such a way that it would have been cruel to leave him out of the squad. Choi Kang-hee recently oversaw a very poor performance against Uzbekistan. The 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan could have easily been a victory for South Korea had Lee Dong-gook converted the penalty. Due to his low confidence at the moment, he has been omitted from the national team.
“On our way back from Uzbekistan, I had already made up my mind that I would leave out Lee Dong-gook and defender Lee Jung-soo — another veteran — for the next match. Since the summer, Lee has shown signs of stamina issues in the K-League and I thought he should have picked himself up for the Uzbekistan match. Son has such great potential, whether it is his shooting, his penetration or his agility. I think he has had problems playing off his teammates but I think we can capitalize on his strengths,” said the South Korean manager ahead of the match with Iran.