Kim Nam-il, Song Chong-gug Make Roster

“Stars are rising.”

Korean national team’s manager Dick Advocaat announced the preliminary roster of 32 players who will join the overseas training in January. The roster shows signs of his struggle to include as many players, young and old, as possible. Cho Jun-ho (32) and Kim Lee-sub (31) were chosen over Kim Yong-dae (26, Busan) as the national team’s goalkeepers. Lee Sang-hun (30) from the 1998 France World Cup returned to the national team after two years of absence, and Kim Jin-woo (30) after six years. “World Cup Hero” Kim Nam-il (28) returned to the team after 10 months of inactivity due to his injury.

Coach Pim Verbeek recommended Jung Jo-gook (21) and Choi Sung-kuk (22) of the Youth National Team, both of whom attended 2002 World Cup as trainees.

Advocaat plans to announce the final roster of 24 to 25 players on December 19. An official from the national team stated that the purpose of announcing the preliminary roster is to take into consideration one month of time needed to procure visas to the U.S.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com