Korea, Japan Have First Matches Today

Korea, Japan and China are going to face off with Poland, Belgium and Costa Rica respectively in their first matches in the first round of World Cup on June 4.

When Saudi Arabia was routed 0-8 by Germany on June 1, the status of the Asian football fell to the ground as expressed by ‘Beijing Morning Post’, which reported the defeat got the level of the Asian soccer retreated by 50 years. Therefore, it is safe to say that its future depends on players of the three Asian countries.

Since North Korea defeated Italy 1-0 and reached the semi-quarter final in the 1966 England World Cup, the Asian football has failed to distinguish itself in international matches and remained marginalized. On June 4, when 3.6 billion Asians, 60 % of the 6-billion population of the world, give a passionate cheering to them, their competency would be tested and revealed.

First of all, co-hosts Korea and Japan seem to be highly likely to record the first win in World Cup matches because they are in a rising curve and have the home ground advantage.

Korea, which is participating World Cups five times in a row, stands at the 40th in the FIFA ranking and the weakest in the four teams of Group D. But recently, in a series of friendly matches with strong ones such as England and France, the Korean national football team made impressive performances. Accordingly, it has gained the confidence to beat Poland in the first match in the first round. In addition, the home advantage would give a big boost to the Korean team.

The match with Belgium is a matter of life and death to Japan. The co-host is in Group H with Tunisia and Russia. If Japan wins the match, it is much the same as grabbing the ticket to the second round.

Although Belgium is strong enough to defeat France in a friendly on May 19, the Japanese team thinks that if its midfielders like Nakata and Hidetosi can dominate the midfield, it would win in the first match.

The Chinese team led by famous head coach Bora Milutinovic takes part in World Cup for the first time. Therefore, its players feel a great psychological burden in the match with Costa Rica. But the Central American team is its easy opponent, compared with Brazil and Turkey in Group C. Therefore, it is analyzed that China could match equally with Costa Rica, unless an extreme tension hinders Chinese players from showing their ability to the full.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com