Seoul Sep 5 (IANS) Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo was removed on Wednesday from the South Korean football squad for a pair of friendlies in September with a knee injury sustained during the Asian Games.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Hyeon-woo will not be available for new head coach Paulo Bento when South Korea host Costa Rica on Friday and Chile next Tuesday reports Yonhap news agency.
The 25-year-old was South Korea s No.1 goalkeeper at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games which concluded on Sunday and helped the country to a second straight gold medal.
Hyeon-woo suffered an injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee during a round of 16 match against Iran. He landed awkwardly after making a save. Jo missed the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan but returned to action for the semi-final against Vietnam and then the gold medal match against Japan.
Hyeon-woo who grabbed international attention at the FIFA World Cup in Russia in June conceded two goals in his last two matches while playing on a tender knee.
The KFA said Song Bum-keun who backed up Jo Hyeon-woo at the Asian Games will probably feature in the lineup for the friendlies. Bento has two other goalkeepers on the roster in Kim Seung-gyu and Kim Jin-hyeon.
The two friendlies will be the first two matches with South Korea for Bento who was named the new coach on August 17.

--IANS pur/bg