The matches between Korea Republic Men’s National Team and U-23 National Team will take place at Goyang Sports Complex on 9 and 12 October. Kick-off times are scheduled at 8pm for both games, with the first match to be broadcast live on MBC and the second match on MBC Sports+.

The official title of the two-game series - between Paulo Bento’s senior national team and the U-23 side led by Kim Hagbum - is 2020 Hanabank Cup : Korea Republic National Team vs Olympic Team.

Despite the ‘friendly’ nature of this series, both sides will have extra motivation with the KFA planning to donate 100 million wons in the name of the winning team for the people suffering from the COVID-19 outbreak. The winners will be decided on a home-and-away basis, and if the sides are tied on ag-gregate the away goal rule(the side scoring more goals whilst playing as the visiting team will have advantage) will be applied. Men’s national team will play as hosts in the series opener, with the U-23 side wearing the home kit in the second match.

The matches had been originally scheduled for September before the postponement to October, fol-lowing the decision of FIFA to move the A-match window from September to January 2022. The Asian Zone qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, initially scheduled during the A-match period in October, have been postponed to next year.

Bento and Kim have not been able to call up their squads since the EAFF E-1 Championship last De-cember and the AFC U-23 Championship respectively. Instead, both coaches have been travelling around the country to follow the K League matches every week. But with the arrangement for the friendlies in October, the coaches have been given the opportunity to check the conditions of the players in person. However, the players based in foreign countries will not be called up for the ties, since they would have to go through the self-isolation process upon arrival due to the COVID-19 out-break.

Despite the absence of the players plying their trade overseas, both teams are expected to assemble solid squads for the encounter: For Team Bento, some of the K League’s leading players such as Na Sangho (Seongnam FC), Jung Seunghyun and Jo Hyeonwoo (Ulsan Hyundai) are in good shape to make the first team. Team Hagbum, for their part, also boast some of the K League’s brightest starlets including Oh Sehun (Sangju Sangmu), Kim Daewon (Daegu FC) and Eom Wonsang (Gwangju FC). The squad lists of both teams will be announced on 28 September.

Meanwhile, the KFA is preparing for the preventive quarantine measures against the COVID-19, mini-mising the personnel to enter the stadium during the series. Only the players, coaching staff and ground crews registered in advance are allowed to enter the premises, with all personnel required to go through the QR code entry as well as checking for specific symptoms such as fever. The matches will be played behind closed doors unless the government lowers the social distancing measures down to Level 1.

Hong Myungbo, CEO of the KFA, said: “We have never seen our national teams at any level play in the new uniform since it was introduced earlier this year. We’ve planned these matches for the football fans who have been eager for the national team to play, and to show the rest of the world that Kore-an football and the national teams still remain strong. We hope that the matches will be a good op-portunity for each national team to keep up their progress, and for domestic sports as a whole, to build up new momentum to overcome the crisis caused by the COVID-19.”