Jung Gyung-ho Substitutes for Kim Nam-il

The Korean Olympic soccer team captured a crisp victory in the last evaluation match prior to the Athens Olympics, but the team found itself in a strategy deadlock as the "wildcard" midfielder Kim Nam-il (27, Jeonnam Dragons) will be out of the competition due to injury.

The Korean team had a 4-0 triumph over France Martinique`s "Racing Club" in a practice match at Favaro Stadium, Claire Fontaine, on the outer side of France, on August 6 with the team led by Lee Chun-soo (Real Sosiad), who recorded two goals and one assist.

Korea’s Lee Chun-soo opened with his first goal by penetrating through dribbles 20 minutes into the first half and recorded another goal five minutes afterwards. Choi Tae-wook and Jo Jae-jin, along with Lee Chun-soo, make up the top three strikers and added goals at 30 minutes into the opening half and 11 minutes into the second half, respectively.

However, Kim Nam-il, who is the primary mentor of the Olympic team, was substituted by Kim Doo-hyun due to a sprained right foot 35 minutes into the first half. Kim has been notified to rest for about six weeks with a fracture on the top of his foot, leaving him excluded in the Olympics as he is expected to return home on August 7.

The Olympic coaching staff promptly summoned attacking midfielder Jung Gyung-ho (24•Ulsan Hyundai) as his replacement. Jung also has participated in the 2004 Asian Cup held in China and was selected by coach Jonas Bonfrere as a national team member. Jung has scored three goals in 13 appearances in “A” matches. Jung showed strong enthusiasm as he said, "I`ll do my best in every moment."

The Korean team is expected to stumble on its reinforcement of defense, which has been pointed out to be the biggest issue as Kim will be left off the team and since the earlier drop out of Song Jong-guk (Feyenoord).

Meanwhile the Greek team, which will face Korea in the first match of the Athens Olympic preliminary rounds, also has a key striker, Ioannis Amanatidis (23•Germany, Kaiserslautern), excluded from the competition due to a leg fracture during practice. Amanatidis, a 188-centimeter striker with great headers and breakaway skills, along with a member of the 2004 European champions, Dimitris Papadopoulos (Panathinaikos), were the biggest targets for the Korean team to watch.