Heung-min Son and the ’96 Line Unite After Putting Rift Rumors to Rest, Start Together to Beat Saudi Arabia

[Financial News] Captain Heung-min Son (Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC)) and the three members of the “96 Line”—Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke), Kim Min-jae (FC Bayern Munich) and Hwang In-beom (FC Porto)—have put recent rumors of discord within the national team behind them and joined hands. They will all start against Saudi Arabia, showing their unity as “one team.”
South Korea, led by interim coach Robert Moreno, will play its first friendly of the two-match November international window against Saudi Arabia at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, at 11:30 p.m. on the 13th.
During the September-October international windows, the team experienced a somewhat unsettled atmosphere as a “retirement controversy” involving key players born in 1996 and questions over leadership flared up. However, after the squad was called up for this Middle East trip, Sonny and the ’96 Line issued a joint statement, putting the conflict to rest. Coach Moreno also showed firm confidence in them by naming all of them in the starting lineup.
South Korea will line up in a 4-4-2 formation today. Sonny and Hyeon-gyu Oh (Beşiktaş) will lead the line as the two strikers, with Lee Kang-in (Atlético Madrid) and Hwang Hee-chan on the wings to lead the attack. Hwang In-beom and Park Jin-seob (Zhejiang) will orchestrate the midfield.
In the back four, Cho Hyun-taek (Ulsan) and Seol Young-woo (Augsburg) will play as the left and right fullbacks, while Kim Min-jae and Lee Han-beom (Club Brugge) will pair up at center back. Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo) will start in goal.
In the October FIFA rankings, South Korea stood 32nd and Saudi Arabia 55th. Their all-time international record is evenly balanced at 19 matches, with five wins, nine draws and five losses. In their most recent meeting, the round-of-16 match at the AFC Asian Cup in January 2024, South Korea won on penalties after regulation ended 1-1.


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