Yoo Sang-Cheol-Song Jong-Gook Plays Central Defenders

Yoo Sang-Cheol and Song Jong-Gook will take charge of the central defense. It is because that Head Coach Hiddink has changed the defense formation of the Korean soccer from the tightly bolting sweeper system of 90s to the I-formation forming a straight defense line, and the young defenders of the national team such as Song Jong-Gook, Shim Jae-Won and Choi Tae-Wook have improved to a great extent.

Hong Myung-Bo has often played a defending midfielder even in J-League. Hong still has the excellent game-managing and ball-passing abilities. But as time passes by, the decline of his speed has made difficult his adaptation to the single-line-formation narrowing the gab between the offensive and defensive lines.

Head Coach Hiddink hinted at his concern about Hong`s position. He said that in a press meeting after the practice at Daegu in the beginning of this month that ``considering the characteristic of the modern soccer with narrow gab between the offense and defense.`` it is not efficient to use Hong as a `libero`.

Hiddink`s concern reflects his way of using players. Hiddink had formed a defense line focusing on Hong Myung-Bo and Lee Min-Sung at the Carlsberg Cup in January, and the Dubai Cup in February. But he has searched for the alternative defense tactics by testing the defending abilities of Song Jong-Gook Choi Jin-Cheol and Yoo Sang-Cheol alternately since the Confederation Cup in May.

The combination of Yoo Sang-Cheol and Song Jong-Gook showed a good sign, even though more test will be required. The experts point out that the central defense requires the well-matched combination of Song, who has a good man-to-man defense and passing abilities, and Yoo, who has a better physical condition and a lot of experiences. And the experts say that Choi Tae-Wook and Shim Jae-Won possessing quick speed, strong physical strength and good centering ability will be rather more suitable to the side defense.

With regard to this issue, Huh Jung-Moo, Donga Ilbo soccer columnist, said that ``irrespective of whether it is a three-back formation or a four-back formation, the sweeper system is not appropriate to the speedy and pressing modern soccer. But since the abilities of our defenders did not reach the completed stage, we are not able to stick only to the single-line-formation. So, we need to use Hong Myung-Bo more flexibly depending upon the opponents.``

bae2150@donga.com