European Teams Woo Team Korea’s Stars

“Off to the big leagues! To Europe!”

As in previous World Cups, whether the “Taegeuk Warriors” could be transferred to the European markets after the World Cup 2006 is drawing attention. In the aftermath of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup in which Korea brilliantly proceeded to the semi-finals, Park Ji-sung (25, Manchester United) and Lee Young-pyo (29, Tottenham Hotspur FC) moved to a Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, and then to the English Premier League (EPL). Likewise, many players are hoping to use their performance in the 2006 World Cup as a stepping-stone to replicate Park and Lee’s path.

The Guardian: “A Traditional English Center-forward”-

Indisputably, those who contributed most to Team Korea accomplishing its best result ever in an away World Cup are the European players such as Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo in the Premier League, Ahn Jung-hwan (30, Duisburg) in the German Bundesliga, Seol Ki-hyeon (27, Wolverhampton) in the English Football League Championship, and Lee Eul-yong (31, Trabzonspor) in the Turkish League. Naturally, people are eager to know “who will be next.”

The quadrennial World Cup is a golden opportunity in which they can entice the big leagues. Done with the league, coaches of European teams as well have their eyes fixed wide-open on the ground to find new promising players.

Among the Korean players, Cho Jae-jin (25, Shimizu S-Pulse) is the one who has attracted the most attention during the World Cup. Although he failed to score, his play has been praised that he induced the defenders very well to create open chances for his colleague attackers. For instance, The Guardian, an English newspaper, picked Cho as one of the “six top talents made for the premiership.” Currently, Dutch clubs such as NAC Breda and Ajax Amsterdam have shown interest in Cho. However, Cho has aspirations of his destination to be the EPL.

Ahn, Seol and Lee Eul-yong also Drawing Interest-

Ahn Jung-hwan as well, has succeeded at least in attracting attention of big league authorities. On June 13 in the match against Togo, he shot a beautiful goal that decided the team’s victory. Currently, Reading and Watford, which are to be promoted to the Premier League next season, are showing interest in Ahn. These clubs expect that Ahn can adapt himself to an English team easily since he has already experienced various leagues in Italy, France and Germany.

It is mostly the EPL clubs that are watching the “Taegeuk Warriors.” In addition to Ahn, three or four clubs including West Ham are interested in Lee Eul-yong, and Reading is interested in Seol Ki-hyeon.

Lee Chun-soo (25, Ulsan Hyundai), who transferred to the Spanish club Real Sociedad but returned to the K-League afterwards, is also determined to compete in a European league once again. His free-kick equalizer against Togo in the first match of Group G must have certainly impressed the European scouts.

Kim Dong-jin (24) and Lee Ho (22) have already transferred to FC Zenit St. Petersburg, following Dick Advocaat.

In addition, many foreign players are preparing their transfer or have already signed for it. Swiss forward Alexander Frei transferred from a French club Stade Rennais FC to Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga. Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), the German striker, is receiving attractive offers from English clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal, as well as the Italian A.C. Milan. The Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo has declared that he would move to Real Madrid in Spain.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com