With in-form stars on hand, S. Korea to take on Iraq in final Asian Cup tuneup in Abu Dhabi

With their top stars enjoying productive campaigns in Europe, South Korea will face Iraq on Saturday in the United Arab Emirates in their final tuneup match before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup kicking off in Qatar later in January.

Coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, South Korea set up training camp in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in preparation for the top AFC tournament. Then on Saturday, the Taegeuk Warriors will play Iraq at New York University Abu Dhabi Stadium — beginning at 5 p.m. in Abu Dhabi, or 10 p.m. in Seoul.

South Korea will chase their first Asian Cup title in 64 years. They won the first two editions of the competition in 1956 and 1960 and have been shut out since.

The Asian Cup starts next Friday in Qatar. South Korea’s first match in Group E is Jan. 15 against Bahrain, with Jordan (Jan. 20) and Malaysia (Jan. 25) to follow.

Klinsmann has the luxury of what many pundits regard as the most talented South Korean squad ever.

The 26-man team features in-form stars in top European competitions, such as Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich.

Son is tied for third in Premier League scoring with 12 goals, just two behind co-leaders, Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Hwang is alone in sixth place with a career-high 10 goals.

Lee, in his first season with the French champions, has been rounding into form and netted his third goal of the season Wednesday in PSG’s 2-0 win over Toulouse in the French Super Cup final. Kim, who signed for the German champs after leading Napoli to the Italian league title in May, has been his typically reliable self on defense.

South Korea will hope that a test match against Iraq will set them up nicely for battles against pesky Middle Eastern teams at the big tournament.

Over the past seven Asian Cups, South Korea were eliminated with a loss to a Middle Eastern foe five times. Most recently in 2019, South Korea lost to eventual champions Qatar in the quarterfinals.

In 22 all-time meetings against Iraq, South Korea have had eight wins, 12 draws and two losses, including a 3-0 victory in a World Cup qualifying match in November 2021.

Iraq will be playing out of Group D. If South Korea win Group E and Iraq finish in second place in Group D, then they will square off in the round of 16 on Jan. 31.

South Korea check in at No. 23 in the current FIFA rankings, the third-highest among AFC teams behind Japan (No. 17) and Iran (No. 21). Iraq are 63rd, the seventh-highest in Asia.