Korea Set for Pre-World Cup Friendly Against Paraguay

Korea is playing a friendly match against Paraguay in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on Friday, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.

The match is one of a series of friendlies scheduled for Korea to prepare for the quadrennial event. It lost to Brazil 5-1 on June 2 and beat Chile 2-0 on June 6. The last match will be against Egypt on June 14.

Korea, ranked 29th in the world, has a better head-to-head record against No. 50 Paraguay with two wins, three draws and one loss.

But Korea will be without key defender Kim Min-jae of Fenerbahçe S.K., who is injured, as well as Jung Woo-young of Al Sadd and Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jung was released from the national team due to injuries after the two previous matches and Hwang entered boot camp for his military duty on Thursday.

In an online press conference on Thursday, national team manager Paulo Bento said he would find the best solution by giving opportunities to other players. "We will do our best to improve our weaknesses from the match against Chile and bring a good result."

Friday's friendly will be broadcast live by TV Chosun.