SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup suffered another setback as midfielder Paik Seung-ho sustained a shoulder injury, joining a growing list of absentees just four months before the tournament, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Paik, 28, of Birmingham City, started in the Championship match against West Bromwich Albion at St Andrew’s in Birmingham on Tuesday (local time) but was substituted after 15 minutes with a suspected shoulder problem.
He appeared to hurt himself when landing awkwardly following a header and was replaced by Tommy Doyle.
Paik previously missed national team duty last November due to a similar injury. He has made 23 appearances for South Korea, scoring three goals including a long-range strike against Brazil at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo is already missing several key midfielders. Park Yong-woo of Al Ain has been sidelined since tearing a cruciate ligament in September, while Won Du-jae of Khor Fakkan recently underwent shoulder surgery and faces up to five months out.
The squad’s attacking options have also been hit, with Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan ruled out for several weeks after suffering a calf injury in a 3-1 Premier League defeat by Chelsea on Sunday.
“Channy (Hwang) is out, and it’ll be a few weeks. It’s his calf,” club manager Rob Edwards told reporters Tuesday ahead of his team’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest slated for Thursday.
“We’ll rescan again in a couple of weeks and see where he’s at. But he’ll probably be a number of weeks.”
The absences of these key players could unsettle South Korea’s World Cup preparations. The national team are set to take on Ivory Coast in a friendly in Britain next month before facing Austria in Vienna. – BERNAMA-YONHAP
