“We Will Achieve What Our Brothers Did Before”

“No defeat in Tokyo!”

The South Korean Olympic national team is burning themselves in preparation for the A-match against the Japanese counterpart.

The July 23rd game will take place in the Tokyo National Stadium in Japan, where the Korean national team won five times and tied three against Japan. Last May, for example, Ahn Jung-hwan shot a game-winning goal, and the Korean team beat its opponent 1-0.

The tradition should be continued. For this game, Lee C. Soo will not join since he has recently moved over to Spain and plays for a Spanish club. In his place, Chung Cho-kook and Choi Sung-kook will play.

Especially, Chung`s performance has dramatically improved. Against Eindhoven, a Dutch pro team led by former South Korean national team coach Guus Hiddink, for example, he shocked Hiddink with his powerful shootings. In addition, the promising striker Cho Jae-jin and Choi Tae-wook will join.

People are also pleasantly holding their breath, expecting the "personal match" between Choi Sung-kook and Yosito Okubo. Both of them are strikers of colorful techniques.

Korean team coach Kim Ho-gon said, “Our goal is 2004 Athens Olympics. The upcoming match will provide us an important opportunity to check ourselves up. But the meaning of the game is more important. That is why I feel burden.”

Kim also said, “Our basic formation is 3-4-3. But, we may change to 3-5-2. Our forwards are not in top shape. I will use many new faces in the game.”

The Korean team arrived in Tokyo on Monday.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com