Marc Wilmots’s Iran to face acid test against S. Korea

Tehran Times – SEOUL, Iran national football team will face a major test of their credentials with the visit of South Korea in a friendly match on Tuesday.

Team Melli defeated Syria 5-0 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday in Marc Wilmots’s first match in charge.

Now the Persians will lock horns with Asian powerhouse South Korea at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.

The Taegeuk Warriors defeated Australia 1-0 in Busan on Friday and now are motivated to take on Iran on Tuesday.  

Iran, the Asian first-ranked football team, have started the new era under coaching of the Belgium.

Wilmots has previously showed he is interested in working with the young players.  

He had fielded Adnan Januzaj, Divock Origi, Kevin De Bruyne, Thomas Meunier, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Thibaut Courtois at the UEFA Euro 2016, where the Red Devils were stunned by Wales in quarterfinals.

As has always tended to be the case, the new coaches are going to make changes in their new teams and Wilmots is going to change the generation in Iran.

The ex-Belgium coach, who replaced Carlos Queiroz in Team Melli in late May, needs more time to know his players.

In the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifications which begins in September, Wilmots will definitely find the best lineup and friendly matches with Syria and South Korea will be helpful for the coaching staff.

Paulo Bento’s team will be a good test for Iran since they haven’t beaten the Middle East powerhouse since January 2011 and are hungry to get revenge on Team Melli.

South Korea, ranked 37th, have nine wins, eight draws and 13 losses against the 21st-ranked Iran. They suffered four consecutive 1-0 losses before taking a scoreless draw in a World Cup qualifying match in August 2017.