Park Ju-yeong and Lee Cheong-yong Join Olympic Soccer Team

Park Ju-yeong and Lee Cheong-yong, who recovered from their injuries, have joined the preliminary list for the National Olympic soccer team for the away match with Syria. The game is the Asian preliminary match final for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which will be held on October 17.

The Korea Football Association released its list of 29 players after coach Park Seong-hwa handed it in on September 28. After the third match with Syria on September 12, Park implied the accession of the two by saying, “Our team’s strikers will be stronger with Park and Lee’s aid.”

If Park’s name is on the final list, he will be returning to the Olympic team for the first in seven months after the first match in the second preliminary with Yemen February 28.

Except for the injured Ha Tae-gyun, former members like Shim Yeong-seong, Shin Yeong-rok, and Han Dong-won remained on the strikers list. Among midfielders, Ki Seong-yong was eliminated from the list due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

kimsk@donga.com