Korea-USA Rookie Strikers Contest Tomorrow

"Let me test how good you are!"

The friendly game between Korea and USA, which will be held at Seogwipo Stadium tomorrow, is not simply an evaluation game. It is the crucial contention to test whether the Korean team will be able to advance to the semi-quarter finals earning the first win in the World Cup next year.

Korea and USA, that are scheduled to face each other in D-group of the next year`s World Cup, will evaluate each other by using all promising players in this preliminary game.

In particular, Korea`s `New Millennium Star` Lee Cheon-Soo (20, Korea Univ.) and USA`s `formidable teenager` Landon Donovan (19, San Jose) are expected to show the most attention-grabbing match-up.

Two players are the very similar players in various aspects. Both young players have gained the confidences of the head coaches with fast and daunting play, and they are in almost same physical condition. Lee Cheon-Soo is 1m72 tall and 62 kg, and Donovan is 1m72 tall and 67 kg.

The leader of young Korean players, Lee Cheon-Soo, has much self-respect to the extent that he has always said confidently that "I can be a big star in the big league." Especially, he expressed his confidence, declaring that "The USA team is the very opponent that we must win in the next year`s World Cup. I will score at any cost to beat them."

Even though he has often been included in the national team roster, Lee Cheon-Soo has failed to attract attention. But since he proved his potential during the training camp in Europe in August, he took a position in major offense route of the national team through the series of evaluation games with Nigeria, Senegal and Croatia. Currently, he is likely to play left wing, and Head Coach Hiddink is also considering to use him as a playmaker. If Lee is used as an offensive midfielder, it will be unavoidable to encounter Donovan in the midfield.

Lee Cheon-Soo has recently longed to advance to one of the European leagues, saying that "I have to advance to a European league to be a best player in Europe." Therefore, this game will also be a stage for evaluating the possibility for him to advance to a foreign league.

Lee`s counterpart Donovan is the promising young player who was selected as central offensive midfielder of the US`s national team in 1999 when he was just 18 years old. In the game with Mexico which was his first international game appearance, Donovan fired his first goal in the A-match game to attract all attention. And he has participated in 8 games so far to lead his team to advance to the World Cup finals. He possesses the excellent ball control as well as quick speed, and especially, his sensuous short pass has been regarded as a real gem.

Since he did not become a solid best-11 in the team yet, this game will be a best opportunity for him to secure his position for the next year`s World Cup. Donovan expressed his resolution that he would secure a starting position during the absence of leading stars such as Joe-Max Moore (England Everton) and Earnie Stwart (Nederland NAC Breda).

Donovan said, "I had once faced the Korean team when I played in the youth team. This is the first match as a national team member. I will do my best to win."

Yang Jong-Koo yjongk@donga.com