The South Korean men's Olympic football team will face Sweden in their final tune-up for the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games as they aim to test their tactics and push players to regain their form.

The match will take place at Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo at 8 p.m. Friday (8 a.m. Saturday in Seoul). The men's team led by Shin Tae-yong arrived in Sao Paulo on July 19 and set up a base camp there.

South Korea, the 2012 bronze medalists, are making their eighth straight Olympic appearance. They've been grouped with Fiji, Germany and Mexico in Group C. Sweden have been drawn in Group B alongside Nigeria, Colombia and Japan.

The friendly match against Sweden will wrap up South Korea's Rio Games preparations. Shin's side on Saturday will fly to Salvador, the site of their first two group matches against Fiji next Thursday and Germany on Aug. 7. South Korea have their final group match against defending champions Mexico on Aug. 10 in Brasilia.

South Korea will look to polish their tactics against Sweden, the winner of the 2015 European Under-21 Championship, and make sure their players will be in fine form before entering the Rio Games.

Defender and team captain Jang Hyun-soo, forward Hwang Hee-chan and defensive midfielder Kim Min-tae are all expected to play against Sweden. All three players missed South Korea's first practice match against Iraq last Sunday because they joined the squad late due to their clubs' schedules. But Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min will not feature since he is set to join the squad Sunday.

South Korea hope their players will complete the match without getting injured. The team saw striker Suk Hyun-jun hurt his ribs and midfielder Lee Chan-dong sprain his ankle in a 1-0 loss to Iraq, although both players were later cleared to play at the Rio Games after the team physician's diagnosis.

Under the tournament rule, South Korea can switch their players on the 18-man squad with those on the provisional list until Aug. 3 if a change is needed. But since it will take more than 24 hours for the replacement to arrive in Brazil, changing players this close to the Olympics is considered best avoided.

Unlike the FIFA World Cup, teams at the men's Olympic football tournament can also replace players even during the event, although in that case, they must select the replacements from the reserve list. South Korea already used one of the four reserve members as Kim Min-tae joined the squad for injured center back Song Ju-hun.




By Yonhap News