Lord of the Rings Lion King Will They Live Up to Their Names?

Recipe for Certain Victory—

Coach Johannes Bonfrere has announced that he is “confident of winning.” What is his strategy for certain victory?

While training in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in preparation for its upcoming match against Lebanon, our national team concentrated on sharpening its goal-scoring ability. Korea’s “weakness against weak teams” in the past several months is largely due to its struggle to wrap things up toward the end.

Coach Bonfrere plans to position Ahn Jung-hwan (Yokohama) and Lee Dong-guk (Gwangju) at the top of the offensive line with Lee Chun-soo (Numancia) right behind them, in a 3-4-1-2 formation. The midfield lineup is unfortunately weakened due to Seol Ki-hyun’s (Wolverhampton) less-than-stellar condition and Kim Sang-sik’s (Gwangju) injury, but Bonfrere has high expectations of the goal-scoring “band of three,” composed of Ahn Jung-hwan, Lee Dong-guk, and Lee Chun-soo.

Who Do We Trust?—

All eyes are on “Lion King” Lee Dong-guk, who has been riding a four-game scoring streak at A matches (i.e. national team-level matches) since shooting the deciding goal at the 2004 Asian Cup group league match against the UAE on July 19. He was the top scorer at the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon with a remarkable six goals—an auspicious record to have under one’s belt going into another match in the same locale.

Ahn Jung-hwan, who has been on an upward spiral with 12 goals in the J-League, and “Speedy” Lee Chun-soo, who vows to “score for sure at every free kick opportunity,” are also exuding dependability.

On defense, our “Returning Pillar” Yoo Sang-chul (Yokohama) will be playing center field, with Lee Young-pyo (Eindhoven) and Song Jong-guk (Feyenoord) reactivated in the “Lee Left-Song Right” lineup.

Beware the High-Altitude Heading—

The Lebanese national team is coming back with eight new members since losing 0-2 to Korea in their first match-up on February 18 of this year.

Lebanon is currently 109th in the FIFA rankings, well below Korea’s no. 25 spot, but the 189cm Roda Antar (SC Freiburg) is a player to be reckoned with. Antar, who plays offense, successfully scored heading goals at both of Lebanon’s games against the Maldive national team.

Mahmoud Shahoud (Al-Ahed), who won a penalty kick in the first match against Korea, is another player with heading and goal-getting skills that must be shut down if we are to secure a victory.

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com