National Team on Long Contesting Trip
17 January 2006
Korea Times
By Kim Hyun-cheol
South Korea has opened its World Cup campaign in full throttle as Dick Advocaat's 23-player squad, minus those based in Europe, left for a 41-day overseas training program on Sunday.
The semifinalist of the 2002 World Cup is taking a long, winding road with 10 matches planned around the globe.
It starts off with a friendly against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday and next will be at a four-country tournament in Saudi Arabia, where the team will take on Finland and Greece before moving to Hong Kong to compete for the Carlsberg Cup. After flying to the United States to have four more matches, the squad wraps up its marathon trip in Syria at an Asian Cup qualifier with the host on Feb. 22.
The program counts for both the whole team and its members.
As the only long-term overseas program before June's World Cup, it is a precious opportunity for the squad to play against other countries in away matches. It will also provide a string of competitions among the players to secure their spots in the final roster, placing a significant duty on the shoulders of Advocaat, who will have to make the final selections.
Considering almost all the European-based players actually won berths to the World Cup with outstanding performances, some 16 spots are still available for the program members.
There also can be some variation in their use during the matches, as seen in the recent case of Kim Dong-jin, who was a midfielder but has served as a defender in the national team's latest couple of matches.
"He (Advocaat) picked the players using two standards _ need for the position and individual potential," said Kang Shin-woo, the Korea Football Association technical committee chairman.
Three goalkeepers, four defenders, 10 midfielders and seven forwards join the tour.
For the goalkeeper's position, 2002 World Cup member Lee Woon-jae has had a smooth path until lately as Kim Young-kwang has failed to threaten his standing. However, this time he has to take the challenge from a new face, Cho Jun-ho. Cho, a late bloomer of the K-League side Bucheon FC, posted a league-low goal-allowing rate of a 0.75 per match last season.
It looks like there is much less competition in the defenders' quartet _ Choi Jin-cheul, Kim Young-chul, Yoo Kyoung-youl and Kim Jin-kyu _ but the position could face some crossover.
Advocaat, before the trip, announced that he would keep his experiment with a four-back system, which hasn't worked for the national team so far. If so, some defensive midfielders might replace some of them in the defense line, as Kim Dong-jin did of late.
Fewer contests don't necessarily mean less trouble for Advocaat, however. It undoubtedly is one of the biggest tasks for the Dutchman to pick the best of a defensive line, which is now perceived as the squad's weakest spot.
The biggest thing for fans to watch for, will likely be the emulation among midfielders with the keenest test still ahead. It will be even more accelerated with the return of Kim Nam-il, another star in 2002.
The tough Suwon Bluewings player will challenge Kim Jung-woo and Kim Do-heon, who have played decently in recent national team matches. On the other hand, this might work positively for Back Ji-hoon, the youngest squad member, who can expect to be tested in some of the scheduled matches.
Strikers are no exception in the struggle for survival. With 2002 big names like Ahn Jung-hwan, Park Ji-sung and Seol Ki-hyeon still alive and kicking, the remaining members will have to go through a series of tough competition.
This year's best K-League players, Park Chu-young and Lee Chun-soo, will give it their best shot up front while Chung Kyung-ho is also set to join them in the race, while Lee Dong-gook, one of the most-favored players in the realm of Jo Bonfrere, will have to start from ground zero with rivals like Cho Jae-jin and a newly-joined Jung Jo-gook
Die meines es wohl ernst: 41 Tage Vorbereitung! Die werden so richtig heiss gemacht - den Sieg gegen Südkorea werden wir uns hart erkämpfen müssen.