No Defeat for Us

"All in."

Intensive tension is swirling around the camp of the Olympic team before the final preliminary group A match against China in an event being held in Seoul at the World Cup Stadium on March 3 for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Each team is determined not to fail because the pending ticket for the Olympics could be decided in this very match.

Korea had its retreat cut off after the dreadful 2-0 shutout to Japan in the assessment match on February 21. Coach Kim Ho-gohn promptly summoned Park Ji-sung (PSV), who just joined in the World Cup team 10 days ago, and exerted hard training in order to edge out China.

The team threw away the usual tradition to implement adaptation training for the stadium a day prior to the match and now trains at the Seoul World Cup Stadium every day. They had a match with Yeon-Se University on the 26th and are planning to train with Korea University for the actual match. On the first and second days of March, the team will go through a “simulation training” with amplifiers turned on, complete with roaring voices of the "Red Devils.”

Coach Kim is planning to train even on the day of the match. The precedent has been to go for a light jog to maintain conditions on the actual match day. But this time, for the sake of refreshing mindsets, the team will implement an hour of a morning training session.

The Chinese team, which is trying to deviate from the "Korea fear syndrome," is going even harsher with its training atmosphere. China records 10 draws and 15 losses to Korea in A matches, and one draw and five losses on the Olympic team. The efforts for the team trying to heal the wounds of its pride, and which the team has never defeated Korea, could be seen in many aspects.

The Chinese team, which stayed in for camp training since last November, is not opening their training session to the public. Including the assessment match against the North Korean youth team, the team is preceding with its last wrap up training with tight security, which is restricted to outsiders.

Due to confidentiality, the strength of the Chinese team is yet to be known. Doo Wei, who recorded two goals against Syria in the preliminary round, and Yan Soong, who scored two goals against Jamaica, and the 2002 World Cup member Chi Bo who are the three that will represent the core of China`s offence and is all the information Korea has. After the starting list is submitted on March 2 then Korea will know the true intentions of the Chinese team. The Chinese team will enter the country March 1.

The Chinese team lead by head coach Sun Shangfoo currently defeated Russia and Morocco as the team strength is swinging upwards.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com