Korea is in a rough patch under interim coach Roberto Moreno, and Uzbekistan is exactly the wrong opponent to meet right now. Korea has been slow and blunt in possession, the coach admits the first halves haven't been good enough, and two senior players went public with complaints after the last game. Uzbekistan arrives with a full squad that likes to press and counter. I don't see Korea finding the win here.
Moreno has had about three weeks with the group since taking over on September 14. The start was bright, 3-0 against Ecuador, but then came a 1-4 loss to Uruguay and a flat 0-0 with Venezuela, where Korea had 7 shots to Venezuela's 12 at home. After that one, Kim Min-jae and Hwang In-beom said players weren't running hard enough. Defender Kim Tae-hyun also pointed to the lack of preparation time. That reads like a team still searching, not a one-off bad night.
Uzbekistan is treating this window as Asian Cup preparation, and Cannavaro called everyone: Husanov at the back, Shomurodov and Fayzullaev up front, plus young European-based players like Urinboev. They come in off a 3-1 win over Iran and a 4-1 win over Syria. Moreno himself called them very aggressive and strong at pressing and counter-attacking. That's the style that hurts a home side that starts slowly and leaves space when it pushes on.
Korea's old record in this fixture looks great, but those meetings go back to 2018 and earlier, with completely different squads. This is a newer, more confident Uzbekistan. I expect them to frustrate Korea and pick their moments on the break.
