Coach expects ‘different’ Son in Ghana clash

DOHA: South Korea coach Paulo Bento said the team would see a “different” Son Heung-min against Ghana on Monday (today) after the forward got used to his face mask during their opening World Cup match.

Son wore the mask during his side´s 0-0 draw against Uruguay in Group H following surgery to repair a fracture around his left eye he suffered earlier this month while playing for Tottenham. “As far as Son is concerned, he was recently injured and he was also adapting, trying to feel comfortable with the face mask.

“First he needed to feel at ease with his teammates and afterwards with the opponents. The second game will be different.

“He has already been able to play throughout the 90 minutes and as a team we needed to do our best so that we can take advantage of his skills.”

“We have also players that are playing in the Premier League,” he said.

“We know it will be a difficult game. We need to be up to the task such as we were in the first game and we expect that we will have better performances both individually and collectively.”

Bento said he did not feel under strain ahead of Monday’s match.

“I feel no pressure whatsoever and I would love our players to feel the way I do but I know they come from a different culture,” said the Portuguese.

“We also deal with the pressure in different ways.”

Odds stacked against African teams: Addo

Ghana coach Otto Addo said Sunday the chances of an African team reaching the latter stages of the World Cup will remain limited until the continent is awarded more places at the tournament.

No African side has ever gone beyond the quarter-finals at a World Cup, although Ghana were a missed penalty away from reaching the last four at South Africa in 2010.

Addo, speaking on the eve of his team’s Group H match against South Korea, said Africa, with 54 teams, deserved more slots.

"There was never a point where everybody had an equal chance at the start. Never in FIFA history," Addo said in Doha.

“It’s very, very difficult if you have five slots to get far. If you have 12 or 14 slots -- I don´t know how many Europe get -- the probability that a team will get further is much, much higher."

Thirteen of the 32 nations present in Qatar come from Europe. Asia has six representatives, with South America and the CONCACAF region sending four each.