By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korea's under-23 football coach Park Sung-hwa said Monday he will include Zenit St. Petersburg defender Kim Dong-jin in his roster for the Beijing Summer Olympics in August.
Park also booked a ticket for Seongnam Chunma midfielder Kim Jung-woo and plans to use his remaining veteran spot on a flank player.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) restricts entry to the Olympic tournament to players born after Jan. 1, 1985, but each squad is allowed to carry three over-aged players as ``wild card'' picks.
Park announced a provisional 40-man roster and plans to name his final 23-man team after a July 16 friendly against Guatemala's senior team.
Dong-jin and Jung-woo were among five over-23 players named in Park's temporary squad with Pohang Steelers defender Choi Hyo-jin, Chunma midfielder Yeom Ki-hoon and Chunnam Dragons defender Kim Chi-woo competing for the last wild card spot.
West Bromwich Albion playmaker Kim Do-heon, who had expressed his wishes to play in Beijing, was left off the list with Park looking for more of a destroyer type who can shift wide when necessary to cover for the advancing fullbacks.
``Kim Jung-woo is a defensive midfielder who also excels at supporting the attack,'' Park told reporters.
``He is a better defender than Kim Do-heon and that made the difference in our decision.
``Kim Dong-jin is nearly recovered from his knee injury. His dead ball prowess as a left-footer gives us another dimension, and his wealth of experience in international matches and versatility that allows him to play both the fullback and center back positions could prove to be crucial,'' he said.
Park, who is looking to build a team with plenty of pace and width, is clearly craving Yeom, a jet-heeled winger with a scorer's mentality, among the three veteran candidates.
However, Yeom is still recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot, and should he fail to find his top form in time, Chi-woo is likely the one to get the final call.
South Korea, drawn in Group D in the Beijing tournament, opens against Cameroon on Aug. 7, then Italy on Aug. 10 and Honduras on Aug. 13.