Spurs legends preview the World Cup - Gus Poyet and Young-Pyo Lee on Group H
Sun 20 November 2022, 10:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
The World Cup is here! The greatest football show on earth kicks-off today (Sunday, 4pm) when hosts Qatar take on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium.
It begins a run of 48 matches across eight groups until Friday 2 December. The knockout stage begins the next day, 3 December, with the final on Sunday 18 December.
Throughout the last week, we've built up to the tournament with a host of Spurs legends - players and managers - to preview the groups, with an eye on their respective country.
Last and by no means least, here are the thoughts of Gus Poyet and Young-Pyo Lee on Group H...
Group H
Uruguay, South Korea, Portugal, Ghana
Match dates
24/11 - Uruguay v South Korea, Portugal v Ghana; 28/11 - South Korea v Ghana, Portugal v Uruguay; 2/12 - Ghana v Uruguay, South Korea v Portugal.
Gus Poyet
Capped 26 times by Uruguay between 1993-2000, Gus made his name at Real Zaragoza in Spain before joining Chelsea in 1997. He joined us in 2001, scoring 23 goals in 98 games until 2004. He later returned as part of Juande Ramos' coaching staff, lifting the League Cup in 2008, and has since had spells as manager of Brighton, Sunderland and Bordeaux. He's now boss of Greece's national team...
“When the group came out, and with the form Uruguay showed in qualification, and the quality of Portugal, at that time I felt Uruguay and Portugal should go through, knowing that the Ghana game is very special, because of 2010 (Uruguay beat Ghana on penalties in the quarter-finals), but I was confident. Uruguay do have problems at the back, and we normally base our game on organisation and a defensive unit. Now, that’s more difficult. We’re very happy with the midfield with Bentancur and Valverde, we have plenty there, and up front with Luis Suarez, Nunez, Arrascaeta, but, at the back, we’re not the Uruguay you might expect, Godin has not been playing, Gimenez at Atletico Madrid has been injured, Coates has been injured, but is now back, so there are issues at the back where the coach will have to make decisions. The first game against South Korea is key. If we start well, I know we’ll get better and better.”
Young-Pyo Lee
A title winner in Korea, Holland and Saudi Arabia, capped 127 times by South Korea, Young-Pyo played in two World Cups, playing his part in his country's fairytale run to the semi-finals as co-hosts in 2002. He joined us from PSV in 2005, and played 93 times for us before departing for Borussia Dortmund in 2008. He's currently CEO at Gangwon FC back in Korea...
“Uruguay, Ghana and Portugal are all stronger teams than Korea. Uruguay is a team that is mentally and physically strong, along with their technical skills, who knows the hunger to win. Ghana made it to the Qatar World Cup finals with difficulty, but after qualifying for the finals, the team grew stronger. And, as we all know, Portugal is one of the strongest teams representing Europe, where the old and the new are well harmonised. Objectively, Korea is a little lacking compared to the other three teams. However, Korea has the experience of advancing to the Round of 16, so if we can bring that experience back, I believe we’ll be able to advance to the Round of 16 again. We must not forget that many Korean fans are waiting for this World Cup, remembering that Korea defeated Germany 2-0 in the third round of the last World Cup in Russia.”
