5 talking points ahead of Wales’ first-ever meeting with South Korea in Cardiff
Tottenham teammates Ben Davies, left, and Son Heung-min could line up against each other in the Wales v South Korea friendly on Thursday (John Walton/PA)
Wales warm up for Euro 2024 qualifying action in Latvia with a Cardiff friendly against South Korea on Thursday.
While Monday’s trip to Riga holds greater importance to Wales, the South Korea game takes on special significance for Rob Page’s Dragons after a difficult 12 months.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the main talking points surrounding the first meeting between the two nations at senior men’s level.
Rob Page is looking for a positive result against South Korea after a run of only one win in 12 games for Wales (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Exactly 12 months ago manager Rob Page signed a new four-year contract and everything in the Welsh garden was rosy. Wales were on their way to a first World Cup for 64 years under Gareth Bale’s captaincy. Following a miserable time in Qatar, Bale and other senior players retired and June defeats to Armenia and Turkey have left Wales with an uphill task to automatically qualify for Euro 2024. After one win in 12 games, the pressure on Page is growing.
Wales football fans are expected in far smaller numbers for their friendly with South Korea (Nick Potts/PA)
Wales has been bound tightly by its ‘Together Stronger’ mantra since Chris Coleman’s side blazed a path to the semi-finals of Euro 2016. With sell-out games at their Cardiff fortress and thousands of voices present on away days, the passionate fan-base became known as ‘The Red Wall’. But that ‘Wall’ will be missing a few blocks this week with the 33,000-capacity Cardiff City Stadium in danger of being half-empty for the visit of South Korea.
Tottenham fans will have more than a passing
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