By Paul Jones
Wales will play South Korea at home in a September friendly.
It will be the first time the two nations have met at senior men’s level and will take place at Cardiff City Stadium on September 7, four days before Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia.
South Korea, who are captained by Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Former Germany and United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed South Korea head coach in February.
✅ Wales 🏴 v South Korea 🇰🇷
⚽️ International Friendly
🏟️ Cardiff City Stadium
📆 Thursday, September 7 pic.twitter.com/MDmpd2tTct— Phil Blanche 🏴 (@philblanche) May 29, 2023
“Many teams are tied up in Europe with qualifiers and it’s not always easy to get strong opposition during the few occasions we get the chance to play friendlies,” said Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales.
“So to have the likes of Son Heung-min – Ben Davies’ teammate at Spurs – and many other high quality players coming to Cardiff is great for us.
“They had a really good World Cup getting to the knockout stage and it’s important we keep testing ourselves against different styles of football.
“South Korea offers us a really interesting chance to do that, and I’m sure we’ll have another great crowd to cheer on Cymru before the ‘Red Wall’ head for Riga a few days later.”
Wales plan to play an October friendly against Gibraltar at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.
A March 2019 friendly against Trinidad and Tobago is the only time Wales men’s senior team have played at the Racecourse – the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts matches – over the last 15 years.
Wales manager Rob Page announces his squad on Tuesday for next month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey having taken four points from their opening two games in March.
🏴 FAW NATIONAL COACHES CONFERENCE 2023
🎤 A fascinating leadership Q&A, hosted by @AdamsDavidFooty, with Noel Mooney, Steve Dalton OBE & Dr Ian Mitchell at @TheCelticManor #FAWCoachConf pic.twitter.com/rExI62xA8R
— ⚽️ FAW Coaching (@FAWCoachEd) May 28, 2023
