GHANA READY FOR SOUTH KOREA DUEL AFTER LOSS IN OPENING GAME

DOHA: Ghana coach Otto Addo has been impressed with Son Heung- min ever since he coached the South Korean forward at the youth level.

The two will be reunited on Monday when Ghana meet South Korea in a World Cup Group H match at Qatar’s Education City Stadium.

Atto was working for Germany’s Hamburg when he first encountered Son, who he recommended for the club’s first team.

“He’s very, very disciplined. So he became so good because he worked hard for it. This is what I hoped for, and I expected it,” Addo said Sunday before the match.

Addo added with a smile: “I always wish him all the best, except tomorrow.”

Son and the South Koreans challenged Uruguay in their tough Group H opener, coming away with a 0-0 draw.

“In terms of offence, we had a very good performance,” South Korea coach Paulo Bento said through a translator. “We are a brave team, we are not afraid of our rivals.”

Son personified that bravery, wearing a mask to protect a broken left eye socket and cheered on by fans wearing Batman masks. He was injured playing for Tottenham on November 2 in a Champions League match against Marseille that limited his training in the runup to the World Cup.

Addo, who played for Ghana, is one of five African coaches leading the five African teams at the World Cup in Qatar. He joins Cameroon’s Rigobert Song, Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Tunisia’s head coach Jalel Kadri.

“I think this is a very big step for Africa. In the previous years, there were not so many coaches, so its a big task for Africa to develop more coaches — not only to coach African teams, but to coach other teams, teams in Europe, and I think the world is lacking this,” Addo said.

Ghana head into Tuesday’ match against South Korea after losing 3-2 to Portugal in their opener. All five of the African teams were winless in their first group- stage matches, but Tunisia rebounded with a victory over Qatar in their second game.

The Black Stars are the youngest team at the World Cup, with an average age of 24 years and four months.