World Cup Preview: South Korea vs Germany - Classic Encounter, Team News, Predictions & More

South Korea are set to face up against Germany in their final match in Group F on Wednesday. South Korea have suffered two defeats from two matches but are

South Korea are set to face up against Germany in their final match in Group F on Wednesday.

South Korea have suffered two defeats from two matches but are mathematically still capable of qualifying for the round of 16, if they can pull off an upset by beating Germany.

Germany were on the brink of an early exit from the tournament when they were behind against Sweden, but the reigning champions mounted a dramatic come back to win 2-1; keeping their World Cup hopes alive in the process. 

Both sides cannot afford to rest on their laurels, so it promises to be an exciting match up.

Classic Encounter

Wednesday's encounter will the third between the two sides in World Cup history, having already faced each other in 1994 and 2002. The 1994 was a thriller, finishing 3-2 to Germany, but the 2002 match was all the more significant considering the fact that it was a semi final.

South Korea had shocked the world by progressing all the way to the last four at their home tournament, beating Italy and Spain along the way. 

Their reward for reaching the semis was a match against the always dangerous Germany, who had cruised through the tournament up until that point.

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Gus Hiddink's men were undone by a 75th minute goal from Michael Ballack, leaving the country heart broken. It wasn't the most exciting match, but in typical German fashion Die Mannschaft got the job done and progressed to the final.

It brought an end to one of the biggest fairy tale stories in World Cup history and that South Korea side remain the only Asian side to reach the semi finals.

Recent Form

South Korea's recent form has been pretty dreadful in terms of results and performances. They are now without a win in their last five matches and the last time they earned themselves a victory was in May against Honduras.

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Surprisingly, Germany's recent results aren't a whole lot better. They have only won two of their last six matches, with those two wins coming against Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Their performances at the World Cup have been below par so far, and they will need to improve massively if they are going to repeat their 2014 success.

Team News

Park Joo-ho will be the only absentee for South Korea as he will remain out with a thigh injury he picked up against Sweden in their opening match. Son Heung-min played well as their sole striker so is likely to fill that role again.

Germany will be without Jerome Boateng after he was sent off against Sweden, earning him a suspension. They may also be without Sebastian Rudy after he picked up a suspected broken nose on Saturday and Mats Hummels may be a doubt after he continues to recover from a back problem. 

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There will be plenty of selection questions for Joachim Low to answer after Germany's starting XI on Saturday failed to impress again.

Predicted Lineups

South Korea (4231): Hyun-woo, Min-woo, Young-gwon, Hyun-soo, Yong, Sung-yueng, Seon-min, Jae-sung, Hee-chan, Heung-min

Germany (4231): Neuer, Hector, Sule, Rudiger, Kimmich, Kroos, Khedira, Muller, Ozil, Reus, Werner

Prediction

The old cliche that you should never, ever write off the Germans rang very true on Saturday when they came back to earn three points against Sweden.

They didn't play brilliantly again, but they proved that they don't necessarily need to in order to win. They have got star quality that can turn a game on its head in a matter of moments.

South Korea battled bravely but apart from Son, they have no one that can theoretically threaten Germany.

The impact that Kroos' goal will have should not be underestimated and Germany have to prove a lot of people wrong. They may finally get into gear in this match.

Prediction: South Korea 0-3 Germany