New National Team Coach Calls Players to First Training Session

Coach Dick Advocaat (photo), who recently took the reins of the Korean national soccer team, will open his first training session on October 7 at the Paju National Football Center in Gyeonggi Province.

Advocaat, known as the “Little General,” has already emphasized the importance of psychological endurance to his troops, and is demanding strict standards of discipline.

The upcoming training session, which comes less than a week before the national team’s home game against Iran on October 12, will bring together a total of 22 players, including Korean exports Park Ji-sung (Manchester United), Ahn Jung-hwan (FC Metz), Choi Tae-uk (Shimizu), and Kim Jin-kyu (Iwata).

Coach Advocaat plans to maintain the national team’s existing 3-4-3 formation for now, and look for new, more suitable formations in future if the need arises.

In this scenario, the spots for the starting three top attackers will be filled either by Ahn Jung-hwan or Park Chu-young (Seoul) in the center, Lee Chun-soo (Ulsan) or Chung Kyung-ho (Gwang-ju) at left, and Choi Tae-uk or Chung Kyung-ho at right. Chung has previously alternated between left and right, while Park Chu-young also has experience playing both center and left field.

In the midfield, there’s a good chance that Lee Young-pyo will move from his existing position in right field to left if Song Chong-guk, who is currently recovering from an injury, lands the right field spot. However, during the impending training session, Kim Dong-jin (Seoul) is expected to continue manning the left midfield owing to Lee Young-pyo’s injury-related absence.

For the defensive line, players Choi Jin-chul (Jeonbuk), Kim Young-chul (Seongnam), Cho Yong-hyung (Bucheon), Kim Han-yoon (Bucheon), and Kim Jin-kyu will be tested by the new head coach. For the position of goalkeeper, many point out that Lee Woon-jae (Suwon) and Kim Young-kwang (Jeonnam) should push each other to excellence through competition.

Even players who had secured a starting spot with former head coach Jo Bonfrere must now win their jobs all over again.

Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com