By Cho Mu-hyun
It looks like Arsenal’s Park Chu-young will finally see some action.
National team manager Choi Kang-hee named 26 players for his first squad on Friday for the friendly against Uzbekistan on Feb. 25 before a crucial final World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on Feb. 29.
Among those chosen, only Park, Al Sadd’s Lee Jung-soo and Celtics’ Ki Sung-yueng ply their trade overseas, with the other 23 from the K-League. The noticeable majority of domestic players comes as no surprise as the 52-year-old manager made it clear from the start that he will opt for experience and those he knows well. Five are from Choi’s former team Jeonbuk Motors, including his prodigy “Lion King” Lee Dong-gook and their captain Kim Sang-sik, which was expected.
But his picking those footballers based abroad may turn a few heads.
“Park Chu-young was chosen after a discussion between me and the coaching staff, as we believe he is indispensable for the team” said Choi. “I expect a lot from him. The fact that he went to Europe from the K-League itself is proof of his abilities.
“The players in Europe are currently going through a hard time because of injuries and a lack of appearances but in the end they are all assets for Korean football. Their future activities are linked with the caliber of the national team,” he added.
The manager went to the United Kingdom last week to check on the fitness of those playing there, including the Arsenal forward. But he failed to observe Park, who remained on the bench in Saturday’s match against Blackburn Rovers and only had brief face time with the 26-year-old. Upon his return Tuesday Choi commented on Park’s limited playing time, prompting speculation that he was
considering not calling on his services.
A noticeable absentee is Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won, who along with Ki, was seen as one of the strongest candidates amongst the younger players to take part in the Kuwait match. Ji, the youngest Korean to play in the English Premier League, has made significant contributions to the team under his former manager Cho, making his A match debut and scoring against Syria on Dec. 30, 2010, and has been indispensable since then. But he has also been restricted to the bench at Sunderland recently and his lack of match fitness is known to be one reason he has been omitted.
“Ji Dong-won and others (overseas players) were not chosen because of the overlap in positions. The Kuwait match is an all or nothing match and I want players who can stay focused in difficult situations. That is why I chose several veterans,” the manager said of his selection, while admitting that those who will lead Korean football in the future were absent due to the importance of the game.
Upon being asked if he had decided on a captain, Choi stated that he had “no one in mind right now,” and that he will choose someone that “the players agree upon” when they convene.
Squad members based in Korea will start official training on Feb. 18. Those based overseas will join them on Feb. 27 as FIFA regulations say teams only have to make players available three days prior to a fixture if they play outside their national league.