Group D News
Verbeek staying focused on task in hand
Jul 9, 2007
PA Sport
While the public focus has been on who has not made the trip to
Indonesia for the AFC Asian Cup 2007, Korea Republic coach Pim
Verbeek has been quietly and patiently preparing his team for their
attempt to claim a third continental title.
Despite their phenomenal World Cup qualifying record, the Koreans
have not claimed the Asian Cup since the second tournament way back
in 1960, when they successfully defended the title they won in the
competitions inaugural year, four years previous.
In the build-up to the tournament, hopes were high that finally the
Koreans would make a significant impact on the finals after almost
20 years of failing, even, to reach the final.
With players attached to clubs such as Manchester United and
Tottenham Hotspur, and others dotted around the rest of Europe, the
Koreans looked like a realistic bet to be in serious contention for
the title.
Then the news filtered through that Old Trafford midfielder Park
Ji-sung would miss the tournament because of a knee injury; Lee
Young-pyo, Spurs left-back, was next to withdraw while Readings
Seol Ki-hyeon was not far behind.
There was worse to come. Former Excelsior Rotterdam midfielder Kim
Nam-il the Korean captain and a key performer in the centre of the
park pulled out just days before the team started their final
preparations for the tournament.
Suddenly, it seemed as if Koreas hopes had been decimated, struck
down by an injury jinx that robbed the team and the tournament
of some of Asias most talented and high profile competitors.
But while other coaches would have seen the withdrawals as a
negative, the Dutchman remains philosophical about the situation
and is focused on the task in hand.
Normally, losing these players would be a big problem because they
bring experience and confidence to the team and they bring fear to
the opponents and we know that, he said.
But it gives the younger players the possibility, because they
know they can be a starting member of the national team. They have
a lot of promise.
Also, in the positions where we have lost players, we dont have
better players than Park Ji-sung and Seol Ki-hyeon, otherwise
theyd be playing in England too. But on the other hand the younger
players bring a lot of passion and energy to the team.
Despite the loss of the majority of their star names, Koreas final
preparations have gone well. Wins over Iraq and Uzbekistan have set
them up well for the finals and their first appearance, which comes
in Jakarta on Wednesday when they face Saudi Arabia.
That has left Verbeek confident that the team can finally end the
nations long run without success at the Asian Cup this
summer.
I have the strongest feeling that the boys are ready to win the
tournament because we dont have so much to do apart from
football, he said. All they do is training, sleeping, training
sleeping. So its quite boring for the players, but they have done
well.
They have worked very hard and we have a lot of young players who
have not played at World Cups or whatever and they all think about
how, in 2010, its the World Cup and we are 22, 23, 24, 25.
I have 17 players who are 25 years old or younger, so for the
future its good and all those players will all want to sell
themselves. They all want to go abroad and they know this is a big
tournament.
The older players, the more experienced players, all know that
this is probably their last tournament and so they want to win the
Asian Cup. They are very determined to have success over
here.
While Verbeek has chosen not to bring 2002 World Cup hero Ahn
Jung-hwan to Indonesia or former Asian Young Player of the Year
Park Chu-young, he has included veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae in
his squad in what looks to be the Suwon Bluewings custodians last
stab at continental glory.
Lees one of the players who have not won the Asian Cup and he
wants to win it, said Verbeek. He brings a lot of experience and
energy to the team.
Ahn Jung-hwan, of course we miss a player like that, but on the
other hand I have three very interesting strikers. I have Lee
Dong-gook, who hasnt played 90 minutes for six months, but he
played 45 against Iraq and 45 against Uzbekistan and he can play at
least 45 minutes and hes still a good striker.
Cho Jae-jin, I think is one of the best strikers in Asia. And we
took on quite an old, unknown player called Woo Sung-yong from
Seongnam. Hes good. Very strong, tall and with good scoring
ability, so I always have the ability to bring an extra striker
onto the field, so Im not so worried about it.
Perhaps the toughest task for Verbeek and his coaching team is
managing expectations back in Korea, where success is almost seen
as a foregone conclusion.
But the 51-year-old, who worked under both Guus Hiddinnk and Dick
Advocaat at the last two World Cup tournaments, believes the
Koreans are right to set their sights on lifting the trophy on July
29.
In Korea they think we are going to win, as always, because in
Korea its black or white, theres nothing in the middle, he said.
The first two days they talked about us missing players but after
that they forget, so I think its good that we didnt win by too
many goals against Uzbekistan because I think we might have raised
expectations too much.
Expectations are always high in Korea but I made a target to get
to the semi-final, and if we get to the semi-final then anything
can happen. Thats what we are going for.
We came here to win the Asian Cup and not just to participate.
Korea should only be playing to try and win the Asian Cup.
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