Wolverhampton Wanderers' Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan warms up before a Premier League match against Manchester City in Manchester, Britain, Jan. 24. Reuters-Yonhap

What to talk about this time? There is the injury to Hwang Hee-chan — another one, which is a worry. Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Rob Edwards outlined the problem.

“Channy (Hwang) is out, and it’ll be a few weeks. It’s his calf,” Edwards told reporters ahead of his team’s English Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. “We’ll rescan again in a couple of weeks and see where he’s at. But he’ll probably be a number of weeks.”

It is not the first problem the forward has had lately, and it means he will miss the futile attempt by Wolves to avoid relegation into England’s second tier.

The World Cup is just four months away, and while injuries are going to be an issue for any national team coach, Hong Myung-bo will be keeping a close eye on Hwang.

The 30-year-old is probably low on confidence after the terrible season that Wolves are going through, and now there are problems with his fitness. He has scored two goals in 20 appearances so far in the Premier League, a return that is not great even if nobody else at Wolves has impressed.

It means he will likely miss Korea’s World Cup warm-up games in March. The Taeguk Warriors will take on Ivory Coast in London on March 28. Three days later the action moves to Vienna for a match against Austria. Remember, the opponents this summer are Mexico, South Africa and a European playoff winner.

Genk's Korean forward Oh Hyeon-Gyu reacts during the Belgian "Pro League" first division football match vs. Cercle Brugge KSV in Bruges, July 27, 2025. AFP-Yonhap

There are others waiting to show Hong what they can do. Oh Hyeon-gyu has been in the news of late. The striker left Genk in Belgium last month to join Turkish giant Besiktas. The 24-year-old arrived in Istanbul to a hero’s welcome and then impressed his new fans with a fine overhead kick goal to help his team secure a 2-2 draw against Alanyaspor.

Oh has already played with Scottish giant Celtic, as well as in Belgium. Still relatively young, he has a solid amount of European experience behind him and also played in the K-League before that. Strong, hardworking and having what seems to be the right mentality, there is no reason why Oh can’t move on to the next level. Playing in the intense goldfish bowl of Istanbul should help in that regard.

Source: Korea Times News