Korea Fantasy
On July 16, the new Korean national soccer team, the SS Johanness Bonfrere, embarked on its long voyage toward victory at the 2004 Asian Cup (held in China from July 17 to August 7).
After winning the first two Asian Cup tournaments, Korea has not been able to return to the champions spot for 44 years. This year, our national team is determined to claim victory once more, and demonstrate the prowess we showed as a semifinalist in the 2002 World Cup.
Before the teams departure, Coach Bonfrere announced, Our goal is to climb as high as we can. All 16 countries participating in the tournament aim for victory in their respective ways, but we will be putting our all into coming away as the ultimate winners.
Will We Be Able to Reassume the Throne as the Leading Name in Asian Soccer?
Koreas most humiliating experience at the Asian Cup dates back to the 11th tournament, held in 1996, when we were pummeled to a 2-6 defeat by Iran in the quarterfinals. Our national team, led by Park Jong-hwan, started with a precarious 1-1 tie against the United Arab Emirates, then managed to beat Indonesia 4-2. But a subsequent 0-2 defeat against Kuwait landed us in second place for the division, and, barely squeezing into the quarterfinals, the clincher from Iran tossed us out of the running for a spot in the semifinals.
At the 2000 Lebanon Games, we overcame Iran in the quarterfinal round with a score of 2-1, but were defeated 1-2 by Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
This years Asian Cup is the prime opportunity for Korea to reclaim its pride as the Asian Tiger of soccer. Both Bonfrere, who is coaching the team through its first official tournament since coming to the helm, and the players themselves made it clear that they were determined to put an end to the repeated disappointments since the 2002 World Cup.
Besides Korea, likely candidates for the tournament title include last years winner, Japan, this years host, China, and Middle Eastern powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The national teams from Korea, China (Arie Haan, the Netherlands), and Japan (Zico, Brazil) are all helmed by foreign coaches, so the competition between these three high-profile names is also expected to be fierce.
Who Are We Up Against in the Preliminaries?
Korea, who has recently returned to the no. 1 spot in the FIFA rankings among Asian countries (ranked 20th overall), will be part of Group B, facing off against the desert storms brewed by Jordan (40th), Kuwait (56th), and the UAE (71st).
Our first opponent is Jordan (July 19), a powerful team armed with stability and organization, who defeated both Iran and Iraq at the qualifying rounds and the West Asia tournament of the 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany. Their set plays, which take advantage of the superior height of their players, are especially dangerous.
After Jordan, we will go up against the UAE (July 23). Their national team is organized around the winner of last years AFC Champions League, Al Ain. With the new acquisition of Dutch coach Aad de Mos, the UAE has been gaining enough upward momentum to tie 2-2 with China in the qualifying rounds.
Kuwait, whom well be playing against on July 27, is also a formidable opponent. Not only were they on top with five wins and one draw at the qualifying rounds of this years Asian Cup, but they also have a good track record against Korea, with eight wins, three draws, and five losses. Nonetheless, their team is running low on morale since coming sixth out of seven at the recent Gulf Cup.
Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com
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