South Korea captain son Heung-Min will be used sparingly in their world cup qualifications against Iraq and Kuwait while building his match fitness after his return of a foot injury, said coach Hong Myung-Bo Monday.
Zuid -Korea, which leads group B with three points, will be confronted with Iraq in Basra on 5 June before they returned home for their final qualification of the third round against Kuwait five days later.
The Koreans will be eligible for their 11th consecutive World Cup if they avoid the defeat by Iraq, who last month named former Australia -Baas Graham Arnold as their head coach.
Son has had to deal with the injury for the past two months and was limited to the appearance of a replacement in the 1-0 victory of Tottenham Hotspur on Manchester United in the Europa League final.
“He and I have not yet discussed exactly how much he will play. But my staff and I already know everything about his drive and his desire to play,” Hong told reporters.
“Because we have two games (to try to qualify for the World Cup), I will not push him too hard. As soon as we are in Iraq, we will decide which of the two games we will concentrate.”
The 56-year-old said that the son's experience would be invaluable in Iraq, even if he doesn't play.
“We will probably play in a hostile environment for part -time fans,” he added.
“We have some players who have had experience playing in these situations. It is something that we have to keep in mind to enter the stadium for this game.”