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With the South Korean national soccer team set to play against Malaysia in the final Group E match of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup at Al-Zanup Stadium in Al-Wakra, Qatar, at 8:30 p.m. on the 25th (Korea time), fans' attention is actually focused on the "starting lineup" as much as the result. Attention is focusing on whether coach Klinsmann will operate his best while taking risks or run the rotation in preparation for the tournament.

Although the opponent team is undecided, Korea has already confirmed its advance to the round of 16, and is 107 places ahead of Malaysia in the FIFA rankings. Korea is 23rd and Malaysia is 130th. Even if it loses, it will advance to the round of 16, but it is hard to predict Korea's defeat due to its objective power. Regardless of the result, more attention is paid to how many goals it will score and win. As every match is "actual," it is common to run the best lineup as much as possible, but fortunately, the team had a chance to catch its breath in the final group match.

Japan, which is most likely to face Korea in the round of 16, has already changed its starting lineup by as many as eight players compared to the previous game in the last final match. It might have been due to the shock defeat of 1-2 in the Iraq match, but it made changes to the starting lineup without any burden given that the opponent team was Indonesia, the weakest team. Despite this, Japan won the game 3-1, and boosted performance of players who were not starting in the previous game.

Moreover, Korea has so many players who are suffering from so-called "warning trouble." Key players such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang In-beom (Turbena Zvezda), and Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwhelan) received one yellow card each in the two preceding matches. If the player gets a second yellow card warning at a match against Malaysia, which is also the weakest player, he or she will not be able to play in the next round of 16. As of now, seven players have been caught in a yellow card. Considering the nature of the event in which physical contact is inevitable and variables such as referee's tendency, it is not easy to play without receiving a match. This is why we put more weight on the possibility of key players such as Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae taking a break.

The biggest variable is coach Klinsmann's tendency. Since taking office, Klinsmann has consistently emphasized continuity and focused on Plan A. Regardless of who the opponent is or the power gap, the coach unconditionally put forward the best effort. At the away friendly matches in Europe (Wales, Saudi Arabia), which was the first and last since the inauguration of the Klin's team, only one player was assigned to the starting lineup in two consecutive A matches, or even picked up the best lineup in a domestic friendly with Vietnam, which was ranked 95th at the time.

At least in the match against Iraq, which was held just before the Asian Cup, Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae were absent from the rotation, but even this was not good in the first half, so they deployed a large number of key players at the start of the second half. Moon Sun-min (Jeonbuk Hyundai) and Lee Soon-min (Daejeon Hana Citizen) are only sitting on the bench for six consecutive A matches, and Coach Klinsmann has used only so-called players to the extent that some players have not even made their A-match debut even after wearing the national flag at the call of Coach Klinsmann. This is the background of concerns that the change in the starting lineup against Malaysia may not be so significant.

Moreover, the team's public opinion is not good due to the 2-2 draw against Jordan. If the team makes a big change in the starting lineup and the team's performance is not good, or even gets caught in an ankle, its fans will be in a state of uproar. Although he does not seem to be a coach who is very conscious of public opinion, it is inevitable that the team's atmosphere is greatly shaken during the tournament.

Ideally, not only players who are in trouble with warnings but also key players who played an important role in the previous two games should be given a thorough break while getting a pleasant result. In this process, a new face that can be expected to show stellar performance at this year's event can't be seen. However, considering the coach's personal preferences so far, it is uncertain whether rotation that can be so bold will be implemented. Rather, we cannot rule out the possibility that key players will remain on the starting lineup. Fans are paying keen attention to whether Klinsmann will make a bold decision.

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