Team Korea Needs Its Best 4 Rested

The Korean national team’s best four – three midfielders Park Ji-sung (Manchester United), Kim Nam-il (Suwon Samsung), Lee Eul-ryong (Trabzonspor), and defender Lee Young-pyo (Tottenham Hotspurs) – were absent from the Senegal match held on May 23. They participated in light training exercises yesterday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium`s auxiliary field.

Park Ji-sung is recovering from an ankle injury. Kim Nam-il is suffering from back pain. Lee Eul-ryong just returned from Turkey after a rough season. Lee Young-pyo also said he needed to rest at the end of the British Premier. Dick Advocaat has been saying that he will not make the same mistake that France and Argentina made in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. “Those teams performed poorly because they had players who were not rested enough to replenish their stamina,” said Advocaat. Park will probably not participate in any matches until he is fully recovered. Kim Nam-il will wait for his back pain to subside as well. Lee Eul-ryong and Lee Young-pyo, after sufficient rest, may be able to appear briefly in the May 26 Bosnia Herzegovina match.

With Park, Kim, and the two Lees missing, Korea`s defense line exposed its weakness. The same cannot happen if the team wants to defeat Togo. If Park can regain his top condition, he will be able to move around more and stir up the opposition’s defense. This will create more space in the front, allowing more chances for penetrating passes. Fleet-footed attackers Park Ju-young (FC Seoul) and Lee Chun-su (Ulsan Hyundai) will have more opportunities as well. Central attackers Ahn Jung-hwan (Duisburg) and Jo Jae-jin (Shimizu S Puls) will be able to play more aggressively. The whole synergy in the front will increase. Kim Nam-il’s passing skill and Lee Eul-ryong’s hustle can add stability to the midfield. With Lee Young-pyo, who has deft overlapping skill, Korea can utilize the left defense line to make sudden attacks on the opposition.

In other news, the Bosnia Herzegovina team arrived in Korea on May 24. The European team was invited to play a match with Korea in preparation for the Switzerland mach. The evaluation match will be held on May 26 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com