Team Korea’s Complicated Schedule

It couldn’t get more complicated than this. The head coach of the Korean national football team, Pim Verbeek (picture) looked distressed as he said, “The situation is so complicated that I don’t know where to start.”

At a press conference on November 6 at the football assembly hall, Verbeek started off by saying, “We have to play the last match for the Asian Cup football preliminary games (November 15), the Korea-Japan Olympic football match (November 14 and 21) as well as the Asia Games (starting from November 28) all at once. On top of this, there are also the K-league playoffs (November 11 and 12) and the Football Association Cup semi-finals (November 8) so we also have the professional teams to consider.” He added, “We have called in all players for the Iran match on November 15, regardless of the playoffs, and for the Olympic team’s Korea-Japan match, we have requested that they join us after they have finished playing in games, depending on their team situations.”

With this policy, of the original 52 players (26 in each team) of the national football team and the Olympic team (under the age of 21), only 19 players (6 National, 13 Olympic) have come together. The players of Seongnam, Suwon, Pohang and Seoul, the teams which have reached the K-league playoffs, will join the national team after the playoffs come to an end on November 12. Players from abroad, such as Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho (both Zenit), will join the national team around November 12 after their team games are over.

Coach Verbeek said, “We will not be able to take into consideration the FA cup finals (December 3) as it will be taking place during A matches (matches between national teams), the Iran match and the Asia Games.” But he said, “The playoffs, which are the highlight of Korean professional football, need to be done well in order for fans to be more interested in football. That is why we have tried our best to consider professional teams’ situations. To be honest, what coach would be satisfied which such circumstances. But we just tried to find the best solution in the current situation.”

The national team’s coaching staff will also be spread about. After returning from the away game in Iran, head coach Verbeek will be on his way to the away match in Japan. Coach Hong Myung-bo will be in charge of the Olympic team. After the Iran match, coach Afshin Ghotbi will take members who are running in the Asia Games but not playing in the K-league championship to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for training.

yjongk@donga.com