SV Hamburg’s Son has only made four substitute appearances during the final round, which included the dramatic stoppage-time winner in March as Korea edged out Qatar 2-1 in Seoul, the-afc.com reported.

But after Korea needed Kim Chi-woo’s deflected free-kick deep into stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw with Lebanon last week, 20-year-old Son will start against Uzbekistan at Seoul World Cup Stadium as Choi’s side look to move closer to an eighth consecutive FIFA World Cup finals appearance.

The draw in Beirut did lift Korea to the top of the Group A table alongside Uzbekistan with two games remaining, although Iran are now just a point further adrift ahead of their meeting with Lebanon on Tuesday.

“I chose not to play Son up to now as I did not want to put too much pressure on him. But as the result in the last match against Lebanon was not satisfactory I have to play him in this high pressure game,” said Korea coach Choi.

“We are determined ahead of the match and we are prepared to show what we need to. All the players are in good spirit.

“Uzbekistan have a lot of confidence and good team spirit at the moment so we must play well as a team.”

Son came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining in Beirut last week having earlier also made two starts during the third round of qualifiers in 2011 against the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

“It is an important match and we all know that. We will make sure we have lots of communication and if we do that we will win,” said Son, pictured in action during Korea’s friendly match against Croatia.

“I am not satisfied with what I have done so far, but the past is in the past and what is important is the future. I will try and move a lot and create a lot of opportunities.

“Every game is important for the national team. We will look to have good communication and achieve a good result”

Uzbekistan’s arrival in Korea was delayed until Sunday following their 2-1 friendly win over China last week, although coach Mirdjalal Kasimov insists his side remain focused on taking a step closer to a first appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals.

“It is a very important game for both teams especially for us as we want to make history. I believe in my team and I think we will be in a good mood when we go home after the game,” said Kasimov.

“Korea have very good payers and have a very good shape. It will not be an easy game, but the mission is possible.

“We had to stay in Beijing due to a delayed flight. The weather was very bad and we were late on our way back to Beijing from Hohhot. This kind of thing happens, but this is football and you have to be ready for these unexpected and unplanned things.

“But we were able to take easy and we are in a good mood and we have already forgotten about this. We have rested and we are ready for the fight. We were still able to have a training session according to our schedule and our preparations are on track.”

With Uzbekistan set to round off their final round campaign against Qatar in Tashkent next week, Kasimov will look to captain and current Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma playmaker Server Djeparov to provide the inside track this week.

“It is a big match for us. We will look to beat Korea at home to make it possible for us to qualify for the finals,” said two-time AFC Asian Football of the Year Djeparov, who also helped FC Seoul win the K-League title in 2010 before a brief spell in Saudi Arabia.

“The mission is still on-going. We have not yet qualified for the finals and we still have to sacrifice ourselves in this kind of match.

“There is a fantastic atmosphere within the squad and now it is time to show this on the pitch and get a good result.”