Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Seoul: Lee Jeong-hyeop will miss Korea Republic’s forthcoming matches against Laos and Lebanon in the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers after the Sangju Sangmu striker sustained a compound facial fracture during a recent K League Challenge fixture.
Lee, who scored twice at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup including the Taeguk Warriors’ opener in their 2-0 semi-final victory over Iraq in Sydney (pictured), was injured during an aerial challenge with defender Bae Hyo-sung early in the second-half of Sangju’s 1-0 defeat to Gyeongnam FC on Wednesday.
Kyodo News has reported that Japan-based Kim Min-woo will fill the void created by the 24-year-old’s withdrawal.
The Sagan Tosu forward was also part of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad and while he didn’t feature in Korea Republic’s 2-0 win over Myanmar in their opening match in Group G of the joint-qualifiers, the 25-year-old was part of the second-string Korea Republic side that won the 2015 EAFF (East Asian Football Federation) East Asian Cup earlier this month.
Korea Republic resume their joint-qualifying campaign on September 3 when they host Laos at the Hwaseong Sports Complex before travelling to Beirut to face Lebanon on September 8.
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Photo: WSG