Korea Republic vs Egypt
The South Korea-Egypt international friendly was hyped as the showdown between the two Premier League Golden Boot winners of the past season, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-Min.
Unfortunately, Salah is set to miss the match as he continues to nurse a slight muscle strain. The Pharaohs will also be missing a number of other key players for this friendly in Seoul.
Salah’s absence has shifted the international friendly 2022 betting odds further in the favour of Son’s Taeguk Warrior, who are looking to finish their recent run of home friendlies on a high.
Talking Points
Son shining but South Korea unconvincing
It has not been a rough run of games for South Korea. They won just one of their three home friendlies against South American opponents and have now won just once in four games.
After getting thumped 1-5 by giants Brazil, the Koreans bounced back with a 2-0 win over Chile. However, they were once again pegged back by plucky Paraguay and needed to come back to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Paulo Bento will be disappointed with how his defence has played in these friendlies. Granted, he has been without starting centre-back Kim Min-jae as well as experienced midfielders Lee Jae-sung and Nam Tae-hee.
And the Koreans’ list of absentees has grown with midfielder Jung Woo-young suffering an injury against Chile. Meanwhile, Hwang-hee Chan, who scored a wonderful opening goal in the win against Chile, has withdrawn from the side to begin his mandatory military service.
But the good news for the Taeguk Warriors is that captain Son Heung-Min has carried over his fantastic goalscoring form which helped him claim a share of the Premier League Golden Boot over to these friendlies. The South Korean captain has scored in each of the last two games and is now up to 33 goals in 101 international caps.
Meanwhile, Jeong Woo-yeong, who scored the South Koreans’ stoppage-time equaliser against Paraguay, could get the chance to start against Egypt. The 22-year-old had a fine season at Freiburg, scoring five goals and supplying two assists in 34 appearances.
Egypt missing Salah, other Premier League stars
Egypt are off to an uneven start in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. After edging past Guinea 1-0 thanks to a fortuitous late winner, they suffered a stinging 2-0 away to Ethiopia last time out.
Egypt superstar Mohamed Salah missed their loss to Ethiopia due to a muscle strain, and his absence was sorely felt. The Pharaohs had just three shots in total and only one on target despite controlling 57 per cent of possession.
The unfortunate international friendly 2022 news is that Salah is set to sit out once again as Egypt travel to Seoul to take on South Korea. Fellow Premier League stars Trezeguet and Mohamed Elneny, as well as the midfield duo of Emam Ashour and Hamdy Fathi, are also out injured, which will severely limit Egypt coach Ehab Galal’s options in midfield and attack.
Salah’s absence is obviously a massive blow to the Egyptians. The Liverpool star has 47 goals in 84 caps and is the team’s only reliable source of goals in the side. The Egyptian front three that started against Ethiopia – Omar Marmoush, Mostafa Mohamed, and Zizo – has scored just four goals in total from 50 combined caps.
With so many of his stars missing, Galal will likely play quite conservatively in Seoul and try to prevent a heavy away defeat
History
This will be the 17th ever meeting between Egypt and South Korea on the football pitch. The Koreans hold a 7-5 edge in terms of wins, while the two sides have drawn five times.
The last meeting between the two countries came back in a 2005 friendly as the Egyptians grabbed a narrow 1-0 victory in Seoul.
While SBOTOP odds are not available as of this writing, South Korea are likely to be favoured by a significant margin at home against an Egypt side that will be without Salah as well as some other important players.
With Egypt shorthanded, the South Koreans have the perfect opportunity to get some revenge for that defeat at home 17 years ago.
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