Paulo Bento, The Portuguese coach of South Korea who led his team to a 1-0 win against Australia, is determined to lead the team to victory against Iran too.
South Korea, ranked 37th in the FIFA rankings, has been out-ranked 9th, 8th and 13th spots lower against the 21st ranked Iran, who are also the top ranking team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
In the last five matches, Korea never won against the Iranians managing only one draw and four losses. 
Bento in his pre-match press conference at the PFC NFC (Training Center for Football) on October 10, said
“We will continue to maintain the framework and style of our team even if we play an experimental team versus Iran,” he said. “We are now building a team to make the right choices in the World Cup qualifiers.”
Bento said, “We will consider the technical and mental aspects of the players,” “We will stick with our style of play and bring in the players we need.”
Bento is looking forward to the success of his aces Son hung min and Hwang Joon-jo.
How much is too much for Son Heung-min?
Son Heung-min has played a lot of soccer over the last 12 months, with minutes on the field seemingly outranked only by air miles.
It has some South Koreans wondering how much is too much.
The recently completed season with Tottenham Hotspur was intense enough, with almost 50 appearances as the club placed fourth place in the Premier League and progressed to the Champions League final before losing 1-0 against Liverpool in Madrid.
Through it all, he maintained a taxing schedule with South Korea’s national team that included trips to the World Cup in Russia, the Asian Games in Indonesia and the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. And international friendlies on top, too.
Despite all that, the 26-year-old Son was called once again by South Korea coach Paulo Bento to fly from Europe to play 90 minutes in a low-key friendly against Australia last Friday and prepare for another exhibition against Iran in Seoul on Tuesday. There have been calls for the player to be given a break but that is unlikely to happen.
Wilmots advocating an offensive strategy
Iran national football team head coach Marc Wilmots said Monday his side will play attacking football with high-pressing tactics to beat South Korea in their upcoming friendly match.
Iran and South Korea will go head-to-head at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday. Wilmots, who took over Iran’s helm last month, said Team Melli will not sit back against the Taeguk Warriors, who have yet to suffer a defeat at home under their head coach Paulo Bento.
“The best defense is a good offense,” Wilmots said at a pre-match press conference. “We will try to create many chances with a high-intensity pressing game.”
“Since 2014, Son has grown a lot with experience from big tournaments like the UEFA Champions League,” he said of the Tottenham Hotspur star. “Son is showing his best performance these days using his technique and experience.”
Iran, ranked 21st in the latest FIFA rankings, have been one of the top nemeses to South Korea, currently No. 37 in the world. Iran have not suffered a defeat against South Korea since 2011. They collected four consecutive 1-0 wins before taking a scoreless draw in a World Cup qualifying match in August 2017.
Wilmots, 50, said he wants to maintain Iran’s undefeated streak against South Korea.
“Iran and South Korea are rivals that motivate each other,” he said. “But what I hate the most is losing. Many fans will root for South Korea tomorrow, but we’ll try our best.”