Wolves' Hwang Hee-chan hits the target for South Korea
Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan kept his nerve from the penalty spot to keep South Korea on course for next year’s World Cup.
Hwang’s 36th minute spot-kick proved to be the only goal in yesterday’s 1-0 win over the UAE in Goyang.
The 25-year-old and his team-mates were roared on by a crowd of more than 30,000 in the first match to take place in South Korea in front of a capacity crowd since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Victory kept them second in the table, with three wins and two draws from five matches, at the halfway point of Asian qualifying for Qatar 2022.
South Korea now travel to Iraq for their next match on Tuesday. Hwang, at Wolves on a season-long loan from RB Leipzig, is one of 12 senior players currently away from Compton Park on international duty, four of whom could be in action today.
While Conor Coady is part of the England squad looking to all but cement their place in Qatar by beating Albania tonight, Romain Saiss’s Morocco have already booked their spot and will complete their group matches away in Sudan tonight before hosting Guinea on Tuesday.
Teenage striker Fabio Silva, meanwhile, is likely to feature when Portugal’s under-21s continue their European Championship qualifying campaign away to Cyprus.
Wideman Ki-Jana Hoever will hope to be part of the Netherlands under-21 team who host Bulgaria tonight.
Tomorrow could see Willy Boly make a long-awaited return to competitive action when Ivory Coast aim to secure their World Cup qualification by beating Mozambique.
The 30-year-old centre-back is yet to feature in the Premier League after picking up a hamstring injury just before the start of the season.
He has since had to make do with a place on the bench, his only appearance coming in the Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham.
Midfielder Leander Dendoncker is part of the Belgium squad who could book their place in Qatar by beating Estonia in Brussels tomorrow.
Raul Jimenez’s Mexico are another nation who will almost certainly be at the World Cup. They continue their qualifying campaign away against the USA in the early hours of tomorrow morning, before then travelling to Canada, who they face on Wednesday.
In Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, Wolves have four players in the Portugal squad.
They faced the Republic of Ireland last night and host Serbia on Sunday.
