Former Soccer Phenom Makes Comeback

The competition for a starting position has awakened Jung Jo-gook (22, FC Seoul).

Jung scored two goals in a Samsung Hauzen K-League 2006 game against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors for a 2-1 win on August 26.

Jung was an up-and-comer on Coach Guus Hiddink’s team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan when Hiddink had him join the team, calling him the future of Korean soccer. Later that year, he led the Korean team to victory in the AFC U-20 Championship and became the Rookie of the Year (12 goals) when he made his professional league debut in 2003. His outstanding physique of 1.85 meters and 78 kilograms added to his killer instinct made him stand out as a next-generation striker to succeed Hwang Sun-hong (Jeonnam Dragons coach).

However, his performance began to wane in 2004, scoring only eight goals in 30 games, and in 2005 he scored a mere three goals in 26 games. Last year, he lost his starting position to “Soccer Genius” Park Joo-young and dropped to reserve player status. Needless to say, he did not make the national team.

This year looks different. Jung is fighting against not only Park and Kim Eun-jung but also foreign player “Dudu” (Eduardo Francisco de Silva Neto), and he has no intention of losing. Jung has started to enjoy this sort of competition.

“I thought one day that I might lose forever. I began concentrating on the training field. And I did everything I could to secure my place on the team.”

He was not able to participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany games, but played against Taiwan on August 16 in the preliminaries of the 2007 Asian Cup Games (3-0). Coach Pim Verbeek, who had kept his eye on him since 2002, included him in the entry, and Jung reciprocated by scoring his first A-match goal. Jung said, “I was focused on the national team, just as I was in my home team. I tried hard and the results were good.”

Scoring five goals so far this season, Jung says he is aiming for 10. This means that he won’t set his target too high because of the competition. However, he is determined to become the “Star” of the Asian Cup next year and the 2010 Word Cup games.

Meanwhile, the leader of the first half of the season, Seongnam Ilhwa, achieved two consecutive wins, beating Daegu FC by 2-0. The Suwon Samsung Bluewings got their first win of the second half of the season against Jeju United in a 2-1 game.

yjongk@donga.com