Black Stars head coach, Otto Addo, says his side will need to stop Heung-min Son if they are to get a good result against South Korea.
Ghana face the Asian side in their second game as part of the 2025 Asian tour, having faced Japan last weekend in the Kirin Challenge Cup.
The Black Stars suffered a 2-0 loss to the Samurai Blue in Nagoya but are hoping to finish off their tour in some style.
One player Addo and his charges will be keeping an eye on is Los Angeles FC’s Son, who has been integral for the national team over the last few years.
“First of all, I’m happy to see him again. He’s a very good player. He always goes both ways. In 2019, he also helped us to win a lot of games. We’re happy to have him,” Addo said as he recounted his time at Hamburg with Son.
“I’d also like to address that in those days, he didn’t speak English. I didn’t speak Korean. We always used Dory Cha, a former teammate of mine. I always called Dory Cha for him to translate how we want to play and what we expect from him. The first days were very, very difficult. At the beginning, I want to apologise for Son.
“He didn’t play too much because I couldn’t explain to him the tactics. It was difficult. Later, he did a great job for us at Hamburg, not only as a youth player, but also as a player in the first team.
“I’m happy for his career. It’s going to be difficult to totally eliminate him because he has so many good skills. He’s good on the ball. He shoots left and right. We have to prevent and stop his shots, which are very, very crucial. He has good runs.
“We have to take good decisions, especially in our defence, when to attack him, but maybe also when to drop in case there’s space and he can run into the space. It’s a good game for our defenders. They will have a strong opponent, and it will be good for them and for us also to see how good they are at stopping them.
“I know that they can do it. We are a little bit lucky that now he’s not 24 or 25 anymore. He’s also getting older, so I think we have a good chance to stop him.”
The Black Stars game against South Korea is scheduled for November 18, with kickoff set at 11:00 am.
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