A Long, Winding Road to Beijing

The Korean national soccer team celebrated its second straight victory, smoothly paving its way for the team’s sixth consecutive appearance in the Olympics.

The Korean national soccer team beat Bahrain—considered the most critical team in order to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games— by 1-0 in an away game yesterday. Defender Kang Min-soo (Chunnam Dragons) headed in the only goal of the match.

Following a 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan on August 22, Korea raked in two consecutive wins (6 points), leading Group B, with Bahrain trailing behind (1 win, 1 loss, 3 points). If Korea beats the Syrian team in Seoul World Cup Stadium on September 12, Korea will have covered 70 percent of the trail to Beijing.

The Korean team was missing key players like Lee Keun-Ho (Daegu FC), Lee Seung-Hyeon (Busan I-Park), and Choi Chul-Soon (Jeonbuk Hyundai). However, the ‘4-2-3-1’ formation was effective, with Shin Young-Rok (Suwon Samsung) as striker, Baek Ji-Hoon (Suwon Samsung) supporting Shin from behind, and Kim Seung-Yong (Gwangju Sangmu) and Lee Sang-Ho (Ulsan Hyundai) positioned at the left and right wing, respectively. Baek Ji-Hoon covered a wide area while fine-tuning the Korean offense, and Kim Seung-Yong and Lee Sang-Ho’s crosses threatened Bahrain.

Korea shot several intimidating shots in the first-half, followed by a free kick chance obtained by Kim Seung-Yong around the left penalty area into 19 minutes of the second-half. Kim Seung-Yong took a curling right foot free kick, and defender Kang Min-Soo, who had joined the offense for the free kick, headed in the ball around the left top goal post corner, just above the Bahrain goalie’s head.

Korean Head Coach Park Sunghwa said, “The away game with Bahrain was the crucial turning point for the qualifiers. With a bit of luck, we were able to reap good results. This will affect the remaining games positively.”

This victory also ended the long jinx with the “Korean team assassin” Czech Milan Machala (64). Coach Machala defeated the Korean team (led by Coach Park Jonghwa) in 1996 at the Asian Cup by 2-0 while coaching the Kuwait national team, and as the Oman coach, he wreaked the “Omani Shock” by beating Korea (led by Umberto Coelho) twice at the Asian Cup Qualifiers in September and October 2003. In July 2007, he again managed another victory against Korea during the Asian Cup’s first round by beating Korea 2-1 as the coach of Bahrain.

The North Korean team (Group A) lost its second consecutive game to Australia by 1-0, while Japan (Group C) ended the game with Saudi Arabia in a scoreless 0-0 draw.

kimsk@donga.com