Korea Goes All-Out to Win
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's national football team will go all-out in an attempt
to pick up its first victory at the Asian Cup against
Bahrain.
Dutch Pim Verbeek's side will face the Middle East powerhouse in
the second preliminary match of Group D Sunday night at Gelora Bung
Karno Stadium, which suffered a 25-minute power failure in
Wednesday's Korea-Saudi Arabia match.
South Korea, ranked 51st, has dominated No. 100 Bahrain 9-3 with
one draw.
The Korean squad, which drew with Saudi Arabia 1-1 after allowing a
dubious penalty kick in the second half, is determined to win
Sunday's match for a bridgehead to advance to the second
round.
``Four points are enough in the two remaining games to qualify for
the second round but I aim at six,'' Verbeek said after his team's
practice Thursday.
``We will beat Bahrain by all means. If we tie again, the final
game against Indonesia will be tough.''
Bahrain, on the brink of being disqualified after losing to co-host
Indonesia 1-2, are desperate to stay alive.
Verbeek will stick to a 4-3-3 formation as in the first
match.
Japan's Shimizu S-Pulse forward Cho Jae-jin, who satisfied the
coach with several good performances against Saudi Arabia, is
expected to play as a lone striker and revived Middlesbrough
forward Lee Dong-gook, who played for nine minutes in the first
match, will be used as a joker.
The 28-year-old English Premier Leaguer has recorded 10 goals in
the past two Asian Cups.
Kim Jung-woo of Nagoya Grampus Eight will play central midfield and
Yeom Ki-hun of Chonbuk Motors and Choi Sung-kuk of Ulsan Tigers,
who headed in a goal in the opener, will be positioned as wing
forwards.
As for Lee Chun-soo, suffering tonsillitis, he is not likely to
start but is expected to be substituted during clutch time.
Defenders Kim Sang-shik and Lee Ho, who came off a one-game
suspension due to yellow card accumulation in the preliminary
round, will be assigned next to Kim Jung-woo.
In the four-back, Kim Chi-woo and Oh Beom-seok, whose active
participation was helpful to the team's offense against Saudi
Arabia, will play on each flank but speculation that the
experienced and defensive-minded Kim Dong-jin of Russia's Zenit St.
Petersburg and Song Chong-gug of Suwon BlueWings will make the
starting roster cannot be ruled out.
Chunnam Dragons duo Kim Jin-kyu and Kang Min-soo are expected to
play defense at center and captain Lee Woon-jae will keep Korea's
goal post.
Meanwhile, Bahrain has a formidable two-top combination of Ala'a
Hubail and Jaycee John Akwani.
Hubail was the leading scorer at the last Asian Cup with five goals
and Akwani, born in Nigeria, acquired Bahraini citizenship last
January.
Midfielder Mohamed Hubail, older brother of Ala'a, whose forward
run is brilliant, is dangerous to watch.
However, as the team is low in transition in offense and their
defense is suffering, a fast counterattack and space-penetrated
passing would be the main factors in beating their rivals.
Meanwhile, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have agreed not to
use the current training stadium due to poor lawn
maintenance.
Because of the poor pitch conditions, Korean attackers practiced
only volley shots and headers to prevent injuries while a few
players from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also suffered ankle injuries
during training.
As a result, the Asian Football Confederation has accepted their
request and has moved training sessions to Gelora Bung Karno
Stadium.
