Between now and the opening ceremony, I'll be taking a look at the nations participating in this year's World Cup, an event which is slowly consuming me with excitement. Share my pain! Today we continue Group B with South Korea, or Korea Republic as they are now known, according to those noted internationalists at FIFA. It hasn't received much coverage beyond the antics of Diego Maradona, but Group B is actually interesting me in quite a few ways. That might be because I'm sad, but consider this. Argentina aside, the teams which comprise Group B are all ones which have had their footballing watershed moments in the last couple of decades, Korea in particular. In a country which has traditionally been obsessed with baseball above all sports, the 2002 World Cup saw football gatecrash the national consciousness in the most memorable of ways: a run to the semi-finals which included victories over Portugal, Italy, and defending champions France. That, combined with Park Ji-Sung's continuing status as a key player at Manchester United, means that football, and the World Cup in particular, is now a big, big deal. But they'll have to be going some to emulate the achievements of that 2002 side, as we're about to find out...
How did they get there?
Although they are best known for what they accomplished eight years ago, Korea are one of the most consistent teams in world football, at least in terms of World Cup qualification. 2010 will be their seventh consecutive tournament, a fact that underlines their status as the dominant team in the Asian region.
Despite this, and the fact that at a glance their qualification campaign looks smooth (they topped their group in both tournament stages), the boat was rocked a little, particularly in the three matches with their northern neighbours, who restricted them to three draws and just one goal. However, this was balanced out by an impressive 1-1 in the hostile venue of Tehran, along with a 2-0 victory away to the United Arab Emirates. Now you might quibble at the level of opposition, and rightly so (the Asian confederation is undoubtedly weak), but away results have been an achilles heel for most Asian sides, and South Korea themselves only have one World Cup win outside of Korea, which came against Togo in the 2006 tournament. So qualification, along with an impressive 3-1 win away to Japan has injected a sense of optimism into a side which is less impressive than that of 2002.
Who's the coach?
Recent years have seen a reliance from South Korea on European coaches, an understandable state of affairs given that it was Guus Hiddink who guided them to such successes in 2002. Since then, three Dutchmen have been in charge of the national side, the most recent being Pim Verbeek, who resigned in order to take over Australia.
This led to a shift of thought within the KFA, and a decision was taken to appoint Huh Jung-Moo, an experienced coach who had held the post twice before, on a short-term basis. Despite the seemingly nationalistic motivation behind the appointment, Huh nevertheless has ties with Holland, having played as a midfielder for PSV Eindhoven in the early 1980's, during which time he participated in various pre-season tournaments designed to boost the profile of football in his home country. As one of the first Koreans to play at a high level in Europe, Huh is naturally viewed as a pioneer in Korea, and wields a significant amount of capital within the footballing establishment.
Ones to watch:
Much of this goodwill towards Huh stems from his ability to get the best out of players who are no longer employed within the domestic footballing scene. As with many nations, South Korea increasingly sees its best and brightest prospects move abroad, and a fundamental task for national coaches is reconciling public levels of resentment and suspicion with the simple fact that these players are pre-requisites for success in international tournaments.
You will by now have realised that I'm largely referring to the captain, Park Ji-Sung. Having become a national icon during the 2002 tournament, Park has since endured an uneasy relationship with the national side, with his role in the Manchester United machine meaning that his commitment to playing international games has often been called into question. However, having himself played in Europe, Huh has thus far been adept at integrating Park into his World Cup plans, along with the Bolton winger Lee Chung-yong, a player who possesses raw, intuitive talent. How did he end up at the Reebok?
Of the thirty players named by Huh, only five play club football in Europe- Park, Lee, Cha Du-ri (Freiburg), Ki Sung-yong (Celtic), and most intriguingly, Park Chu-young of Monaco. Having joined the Ligue 1 side in 2008, the 24 year-old has made steady progress, and become adept at playing in a variety of positions across the front line. He first caught my eye with his excellent dead-ball deliveries and impressive turn of pace, and has scored eight goals in twenty-six starts this season. That doesn't sound particularly inspiring I admit, but Monaco are a low-scoring team in a low scoring league (they managed just 39 in 38 league games in 2009/10), and Park shows promise. He has been linked with Fulham (former home of fellow squad member Seol Ki-Hyeon), and I wouldn't be surprised if he pitched up at a Premier League side before long.
How will they do?
As merited an achievement as reaching the semi-finals in 2002 was, I'd be stunned if South Korea made it that far again. I'm not a betting man (slippery slope), but I'd imagine that the odds are suitably long, and with good reason. This is a team in possession of some exciting individual talent, but also plagued by that previously mentioned inability to perform consistently well away from home. The 2006 tournament was fairly disappointing, despite an admittedly tough group, and expectations have been lowered accordingly- the KFA are offering bonuses of $150,000 for progress to the round of 16.
The draw has been somewhat kinder to Korea this time around, and Huh's reign has seen a more settled and unified squad develop, all of which is cause for optimism, but the opening game against a gritty Greece side (more about them tomorrow) will likely determine whether the players leave South Africa significantly richer. I have a feeling they just might.
My prediction: Eliminated in the round of 16.
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