South Korea Start To Show Symptoms Of World Cup Fever

The first frissons of fever could be felt last Friday – World Cup fever. The 2010 tournament is just six weeks away but outside the host nation of South Africa, the billions of fans of the global game just can’t quite seem to get into the swing of things. That is especially true in East Asia.

Just a week ago, former chief of the Japan Football Association Saburo Kawabuchi was giving his reasons why the Land of the Rising Sun has still not woken up to the 2010 World Cup. ”The reason there is no excitement is Japan hasn’t played well. It’s important the team shows some confidence in their final tuneup games,” the well-respected administrator told local media.

South Korea doesn’t have the same problem with regard to national team performances but the distance and the fact that - as they don’t have broadcasting rights to the tournament- television stations KBS and MBC are trying to pretend that it isn’t happening, have not yet injected much excitement into the Land of the Morning Calm.

That all changed on Friday when head coach Huh Jung-moo named a preliminary squad of 30. This isn’t, in itself, a huge deal as there is a big difference between 30 and the final number of 23 that will actually go to South Africa. Huh has the rest of May to weed out the unlucky seven.

Drama was in short supply as were shocks. All have appeared in the red shirt before, most of them a good number of times. All 23 players who were summoned to play against Ivory Coast in a March 3 warm-up in London, a game that went 2-0 to Huh’s men, are included again. The others are those returning from injury and/or bad form.

As you would expect so close to the big event, coach Huh was sounding bullish without going overboard.

"We do have our weaknesses,” Huh said in Seoul. “But in every game, my players are full of passion and have a fighter's spirit. Our determination to win, our desire for success and coherence as a team is second to none in the world. You can easily break a single branch, but when it's a bundle of ten, it's a different story."

“I selected the 30 players by comprehensively considering their personal skills, ability to understand tactics, and physical and mental conditions. They must exercise and play games with a sense of pride as representatives of South Korea from now on

The talking point perhaps was the exclusion of Seol Ki-hyeon. The veteran of 2002 and 2006 has not made the cut because he is still recovering from a knee operation and has not played for new club Pohang Steelers since returning from England in the winter.

"Seol hasn't been included because he hasn't played and hasn't trained,” said Huh. "Of course, it is regrettable for the players who haven't made the squad but those 30 players have the opportunity to play a big part for the national team."

There is still time for more injures. There are two games left in the K-League before the summer break and one in the European leagues. The domestic-based stars will get together on May 10 to start the first training camp. Then comes the first home game this year so far and the only one before the World Cup when Ecuador provides the opposition in a warm-up at Seoul World Cup stadium on May 16.

A full house is expected for that match, a one and only chance to see the boys and wish them luck before they head to Saitama and a May 24 test against fellow qualifiers Japan. The very next day comes a rather longer flight to Austria and another training camp. Two more games take place under the Alpine skies, the first against Belarus and the second against European champion Spain in Innsbruck on June 3.

Then it is down to the southern tip of Africa and Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela Stadium where Greece will be waiting on June 12.


Goalkeepers:
Kim Young-Kwang (Ulsan) Lee Woon-Jae (Suwon) Jung Sung-Ryong (Seongnam)

Defenders: Kang Min-Soo (Suwon) Kwak Tae-Hwi (Kyoto, Japan) Kim Dong-Jin (Ulsan) Kim Hyung-Il (Pohang) Oh Beom-Seok (Ulsan) Lee Young-Pyo (Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia) Lee Jung-Soo (Kashima, Japan)
Hwang Jae-Won (Pohang) Cho Won-Hee (Wigan, England - loaned to Suwon) Cha Du-Ri (SC Freiburg Germany) Cho Yong-Hyung (Jeju United)

Midfielders: Koo Ja-Cheol (Jeju UTD) Ki Sung-Yong (Celtic, Scotland) Kim Bo-Kyung (Oita Japan) Kim Nam-Il (Tom Tomsk-Russia) Shin Hyung-Min (Pohang) Kim Jae-Sung (Pohang) Kim Jung-Woo (Gwangju), Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton, England) Kim Chi-Woo (Seoul) Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United England)

Forwards: Park Chu-Young (AS Monaco France) Ahn Jung-Hwan (Dalian China) Lee Seung-Ryul ( Seoul) Yeom Ki-Hun (Suwon) Lee Keun-Ho (Jubilo Iwata (Japan) Lee Dong-Guk (Jeonbuk)


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Time Running Out For Injured Korean Stars

The seasons are changing in South Africa. The summer weather is coming to an end and the beaches of Durban and Cape Town are no longer as busy as they were. Fall has arrived and soon, winter will come to bring pleasant days but cold nights to cities such as Johannesburg. In 2010 however, winter means one thing in South Africa – the World Cup.

That tournament looms large on the horizon of Yeom Ki-hun.The Suwon attacker hasn’t yet played a game for his new club since arriving in Gyeonggi Province from Ulsan Horang-I in the off-season. The likeable 27 year-old is battling through an annual problem – injury. He needs to start playing very soon if he is to take one of the 23 seats on the plane that leaves Incheon International Airport in late May.

Yeom, who still bears the scars from a serious automobile accident in 2006, rarely plays a full season. A series of physical problems have blighted his career and prevented him, perhaps, from becoming the star he could have been. The latest setback came in February when he fractured a bone in his foot during training with the national team at the East Asian Championships.

It was a cruel blow for the player and the former Ulsan star, who has played 30 times for the Taeguk Warriors, is keen to get back on the pitch to show what he can do. “I haven’t given up on going to the World Cup. The operation went well and at the moment, I am feeling good,” Yeom told local media in March.

“My recovery is coming on leaps and bounds,” he added. “My strong points are such things as taking free-kicks, crossing and shooting. If I show that I am at my best, opportunities should come my way."

Yeom expects to be back around the middle of this month and that is looking a little optimistic and is cutting it fine. Assuming he does return on schedule, and with this versatile attacker you can never be sure, it doesn’t give him much time to get himself back to match fitness and build his stamina.

National team coach Huh Jung-moo has an exhibition match in Seoul against Ecuador planned on May 16 – the only game in the Land of the Morning Calm before the big event – and the selected stars will get together on May 9. If Yeom is not in that roster then it all will be too late.

The same applies to Seol Ki-hyeon, another winger who can play on either side or even in the middle. The former English Premier League star left Fulham in the winter to come and play for Pohang Steelers. At the age of 31, he had never played in the K-League in his career and he still hasn’t. A knee injury that didn’t seem to serious at first has dragged on.

At almost every press conference early in the season, Pohang boss Waldemar Lemos told reporters that the player was almost ready but then in late March, it was revealed that ‘The Sniper’ has gone under the knife. It wasn’t a big operation so Seol could be back this month but if he wants to go the World Cup, (and who doesn’t?) he needs to be back, fit and playing well as soon as possible.

In truth it doesn’t look good for either, especially Seol, but at least they will be in good company with the likes of David Beckham of England and Spain’s Cesc Fabregas also likely to be watching the tournament from the sidelines.

Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com


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