By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
With the South Korean national football team in desperate need of goals, manager Huh Jung-moo is seeking help from a player with a history of putting the ball in the net.
The team boss announced Thursday night that the Taeguk Warriors have added former Shimizu S-Pulse standout Cho Jae-jin to their roster for next Wednesday's World Cup qualifying match against Turkmenistan in Seoul.
The move to draft Cho, a 26-year-old striker who has been in England trying to land a job in the Premier League, came two days after Huh opened his third tenure as South Korea's manager by losing a friendly 1-0 against Chile in Seoul.
That defeat extended a disheartening streak of scoring futility for Korea's senior team, which has gone goalless in its past four matches, playing 506 minutes since netting its last goal against Indonesia in the Asian Cup tournament last July.
The addition of Cho, who replaces striker Jung Jo-gook on the national team roster, will give the Taeguk Warriors a player with experience scoring crucial goals in high-profile international matches.
In perhaps his most memorable performance, Cho helped South Korea come back from a 3-0 deficit to draw 3-3 against Mali at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He scored two consecutive goals in that match and was later in the penalty box when a Mali defender trying to defend him committed an own goal that tied the game.
After beginning his professional career in the Korea Professional Football League (K-League) with the Suwon Bluewings, Cho moved to the Japan Professional Football League (J-League), where he played the past three years with the Shimizu S-Pulse.
During his stint with the S-Pulse, Cho scored 34 goals in 79 matches. He ranked 10th in the J-League with 13 goals in 2007, while helping the S-Pulse finish fourth in the league standings.
Now that he is a free agent, Cho is trying to join the English Premier League, where he has been linked to talks with Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Fulham, but has failed to receive a contract.
In the meantime, Cho is expected to join the Taeguk Warriors Saturday to begin training.