German-born Jens Castrop in South Korea squad for World Cup, Son Heung-Min lead the way

[p]The rugged ‌Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder, who has a German father and Korean mother, played at age group ‌level for his nation of birth but has represented [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-korea/K6Gs7P6G/"]South ‌Korea[/a] five times since switching allegiance last year.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/son-heung-min/Mgg9oPeM/"]Son Heung-Min[/a] will captain the ‌side and South Korea's reliance on his goals - he has scored ‌54 for his country - was indicated by the only two other strikers named in the squad, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oh-hyun-gyu/xrhecmZN/"]Oh Hyeon-Gyu[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cho-kyu-sung/Kb3dhzfM/"]Cho Gue-Sung[/a].[/p][p]Oh, who has been in fine ‌form for Turkish club Besiktas, has scored just ⁠six international goals, while Cho has ‌found the net 10 times for his country.[/p][image alt="Castrop season stats" id="3c98a763-92d7-43e6-9261-c49ec5f1573c" credit-line="Leon Kugeler / Reuters / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="2df9ecdd-149b-4ebf-a305-3c3f13fa9235" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]There were few surprises in the ​squad with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lee-kangin/YTVIJfxO/"]Lee Kang-In[/a] and Bayern Munich defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-min-jae/vkXC6mad/"]Kim Min-Jae[/a] included along with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jo-hyeon-woo/vqdQJAkE/"]Jo ​Hyeon-Woo[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kim-seung-gyu/xh6I9nD4/"]Kim Seung-Gyu[/a], who will battle it out for the starting goalkeeper's spot.[/p][p]Midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hwang-in-beom/6Jo7zpif/"]Hwang In-Beom[/a] will have a chance to add ⁠to his 71 caps in ​the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July despite struggling with an ankle injury since March at his Dutch club Feyenoord.[/p][p]"[b]He has not played much recently, so I would not say that his ‌match sharpness is fully back yet[/b]," Hong told a news conference in Seoul.[/p][p]"We expect to raise that match sharpness through the two games we will play once we go to the United States.[/p][p]"[b]Our coach is putting the players through high-intensity training, and Hwang has completed the full workload. So we are somewhat reassured by that[/b]."[/p][embed guid="28ac5d3a-fc26-4368-b370-cd8af904675b" url="https://x.com/theKFA/status/2055554156207935497" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Taegeuk Warriors will play friendlies against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/trinidad-tobago/UTg8M6Sd/"]Trinidad & Tobago[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/el-salvador/8b5z2tKe/"]El Salvador[/a] in Utah ahead of their 11th straight appearance at the World Cup finals.[/p][p]South Korea ‌have been drawn with co-hosts Mexico, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Czech Republic[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]South ​Africa[/a] in opening-round Group A. They begin their campaign against the ‌Czechs in Guadalajara on June 11th.[/p][h2]South Korea squad[/h2][p][b]Goalkeepers[/b]: Kim Seung-Gyu, Song Bum-Keun, Jo Hyeon-Woo[/p][p][b]Defenders[/b]: Kim Moon-Hwan, Kim Min-Jae, Kim Tae-Hyeon, Park Jin-Seop, Seol Young-Woo, Jens Castrop, Lee Ki-Hyeok, Lee Tae-Seok, Lee Han-Beom, Cho Yu-Min.[/p][p][b]Midfielders[/b]: Kim Jin-Gyu, Bae Jun-Ho, Paik Seung-Ho, Yang Hyun-Jun, ⁠Eom Ji-Sung, Lee Kang-In, Lee ⁠Dong-Gyeong, Lee Jae-Sung, Hwang In-Beom, ‌Hwang Hee-Chan.[/p][p][b]Forwards[/b]: Son Heung-Min, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Cho Gue-Sung[/p]