And Celtic ace Yang has not been risked for the squad after his recent injury he picked up playing for his country in their successful Asian Games tournament.

Kim was called-up for the first time for South Korea and played in three friendlies against Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela and was an unused sub against Uzbekistan.

But the 20-year-old clearly didn't do enough to impress his country's caretaker boss Robert Moreno, with the Spaniard ditching him from his 26-man squad to face Qatar and Saudi Arabia in Doha.

Moreno said: "The criteria for this list, both now and in the future, will be based solely on performance, taking into account physical condition, playing time at their respective clubs and what each player contributes to the team.

"Every player on this list is included because they are willing to give their all for the national team and their country. That is the primary condition that takes precedence over talent and I would not have called up any player for whom I was not convinced of this."

Yang has been missing since the middle of last month with a hamstring injury picked up during his country's 4-1 win against Qatar in the Asian Cup group stages.

He was unable to play in any more games as South Korea won the gold medal, but Hoops boss Martin O'Neill revealed Yang is due back to full training next week.