Cymru vs. Korea Republic | 2024 A Internationals – EQ Friendlies – Fixtures

Cymru manager Rob Page also addressed the media this evening and highlighted the improved defensive performance of his side.

“There’s been a lot said since the last camp and you saw the reaction of the players tonight against a top team. I was proud of our defending, that’s our identity. We didn’t reach those standards in June and that’s what disappointed me. We defended the box really well and they stuck to the game plan tonight. Their application throughout the week, I can’t fault them, and we’ll take lots of positives from the game.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Its not a problem for me and I don’t lose focus because of it. We have to be patient as we’re in a time of transition. We have players who have been in pressurised situations before and we’ve built-up our confidence. It’s all about the win on Monday now. We’ve had a positive reaction and we have to follow that up.”

Full-time verdict: No goals between Cymru and Korea Republic but a decent test for Rob Page and his squad, and it was the home side that had the best chances to win it. Only the post denied Kieffer Moore from scoring what would have been the only goal of the game as attentions now turn to Monday and the challenge of Latvia in EURO qualifying.

A crowd of 13,668 in attendance at the Cardiff City Stadium this evening. Diolch.

The second cooling break of the game and it’s Brooks who enters the field for the restart as he replaces Broadhead. The red wall rise to welcome one of their favourites onto the field.

Cymru manager Rob Page.

A host of changes as Sheehan, Burns and Ramsey enter the field for Cymru. Korea Republic also make a double change with both teams looking to open the scoring.

Great support for the visitors at Cardiff City Stadium tonight while the red wall have also been in good voice.

🤝@Cymru | @SpursOfficial 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/R0PhOwmkdM

— Sgorio ⚽️ (@sgorio) September 7, 2023

A couple of changes for Cymru as Johnson and Ampadu are replaced by Moore and Morrell. Like-for-like positional changes while Korea Republic stick with their starting line-up.

Half-time verdict: A game of few chances and very little between the two sides as it remains 0-0. Both managers will inevitably use the 2nd half to make changes and experiment with their respective squads, but will it lead to a goal?

Another effort from Wilson is saved by Kim in the Korea Republic goal. Both keepers have answered the questions asked of them as half-time approaches.

Johnson is causing some increasing problems for the visitors as they struggle to control his pace in attack. The new Tottenham Hotspur signing as two international goals to his name.

A cooling break as both teams head to the touchline and receive some tactical instruction from Page and Klinsmann respectively.

Korea Republic enjoying their best spell of possession without really troubling the Cymru defence. Page will be pleased with how his side have performed so far at the midway point of the opening half.

The Cymru starting line-up.

Kick-off is fast-approaching here at the Cardiff City Stadium for the first-ever meeting between Cymru and Korea Republic. Rob Page and his squad will then head to Latvia for what has now become a crucial EURO qualifier on Monday evening.

“What we want is a positive reaction and take that momentum in to Monday's game."

🎙️ Sylwadau Rob Page, rheolwr Cymru cyn y gic gyntaf

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇰🇷 | Cymru v De Corea | 7.20, @S4C
YouTube: https://t.co/zZAt2GsWRG pic.twitter.com/KbsR395xYN

— Sgorio ⚽️ (@sgorio) September 7, 2023

The teams are in as Cymru take on Korea Republic with Jordan James and Nathan Broadhead both making their first senior international starts.

The match between Cymru and Korea Republic this evening will be used as a trial match for a new concussion substitute process defined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

Should a concussion injury take place during the match, the player will be permanently substituted but it will be classed as an additional substitute/stoppage to the match rules of six substitutes within three stoppages for that team.

Manager Rob Page will name his starting line-up to take on Korea Republic tonight with Monday’s EURO qualifier against Latvia in mind.

Cymru have claimed four points from their opening four Group D matches, with the only victory coming against Latvia back in March. Kieffer Moore (below) and Joe Morrell will miss Monday’s match through suspension and are therefore expected to feature this evening.

Cymru manager Rob Page spoke to the media on Wednesday as his side prepare to take on Korea Republic at the Cardiff City Stadium this evening, but emphasised the importance of Monday’s EURO qualifier against Latvia.

“I’ve already got a plan in place, what players, what minutes they’ve played this season, who needs more minutes than others. There will be plenty of substitutions. There will be some at half-time, some at the hour mark. We’ll be trying to get those players off the pitch unscathed and getting them ready for Monday.”

“It’s not just about winning games of football now, it’s about the bigger picture. Everybody wants to win games of football but they understand, the senior players, that we have to start introducing younger players.”

Take a look back at previous Cymru match highlights on RedWall+, the FAW’s streaming service that also gives fans access to live football matches, exclusive documentaries, coaching masterclasses and much more.

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Ethan Ampadu spoke to the media on Tuesday and reflected on recent results as he prepares to make his 45th international appearance against Korea Republic on Thursday.

“Compared to the standards we have set, it was not us in those games. We all know we can perform much better than that. Whenever a camp doesn’t go as well as we would like, there’s always been a bit of pressure. You are aware of the outside and everything that comes with it.

“Within ourselves and the squad, we all know what we have to do and we all know we can perform much better than that. Whether things have gone right or wrong, we’ve always tried to stick to our principles. That’s what has got the success we’ve had in the previous years.

“It’s just the fact that in the last camp we didn’t perform to the way we usually do and the standards we have set. It’s about reminding ourselves of those standards and what has got us that success in the past. I’m sure that’s the baseline for us in these games coming up.”

Neco Williams provided an honest assessment on his media rounds as Cymru prepare for an international challenge match against Korea Republic on Thursday and a European Qualifier against Latvia in Riga next Monday.

“We’ve got to go into each game now with the mentality that we want the three points. We’ve got to fight so hard, like we always do.

“The last two games we played it wasn’t us, it wasn’t Wales… We know we have to better.

“We have got to draw a line under that and hopefully we can put it right, starting with the friendly on Thursday and then take it into the Latvia game.

“Our main goal and focus is to go there [Latvia] and come away with three points.”

This will be the first ever meeting between Cymru and Korea Republic when the two nations meet in Cardiff on Thursday evening. However, the visitors will bring with them some familiar names.

Defender Kim Min-jae recently completed a move from Italian champions Napoli to Bayern Munich, while Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min will captain the side against his new club team-mate Brennan Johnson after the Cymru youngster completed his move from Nottingham Forest.

Manager Jürgen Klinsmann is another familiar name after making over 100 appearances for Germany between 1987 and 1998 and he lifted the FIFA World Cup in 1990. The former striker also scored the winner for West Germany against Cymru in Cardiff back in October 1995 at the Arms Park.

Kick off at the Cardiff City Stadium is at 7.45pm on Thursday and tickets can be bought here.

Cymru captain Aaron Ramsey spoke to the media at the team base this morning and reiterated his support for manager Rob Page as the side go through a period of transition.

“I think we are all behind the gaffer,” Ramsey said. “What he has done has been quite remarkable, coming in the circumstances that he did, getting to a European Championship and getting to the World Cup.

“Now we are going through a transitional period, we have lost some big players and it was always going to be difficult. We have lost some staff as well. That has been a bit of a change. We’ve been in this position before.

“We all know there’s a good group. There’s a lot of potential in this team, a lot of players playing at the highest level and exciting young talented players as well.

“We’ll take it one game at a time now and hopefully we can get everybody right behind us and give us that extra bit so we can get back into that position we were in before where we’ve got a couple of games left with a chance of qualifying.”

Click here to watch Aaron Ramsey’s press conference in full on RedWall+

The Cymru squad began their preparations earlier today for the two upcoming fixtures against Korea Republic and Latvia.

Since manager Rob Page announced his squad last week, Rabbi Matondo has been added to the list but defender Tom Lockyer has withdrawn due to injury. Meanwhile, Jack Lester has joined Page’s backroom staff as Assistant Coach following the departure of Eric Ramsey due to personal reasons.

Cymru take on Korea Republic at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday, 7 September and tickets for the international challenge match are now on sale. Click here to buy tickets.