No 'Group of Death' in Russia
By Park Moo-jong
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In June 2002, the main streets of cities were painted red, not by the Communists’ red, but by the red shirts of the Red Devils, the very supporters of the Korean national football team which was writing down World Cup history to the astonishment of the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people chanted “Daehan Minguk” (Republic of Korea) at stadiums, city plazas, bars, restaurants and elsewhere, watching their team’s games against Poland, the United States, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Germany and Turkey through the night during the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan staged May 31 to June 30.
The Koreans were still underdogs at that time in the global sporting extravaganza, the first held on a continent other than Europe or the Americas. But that stopped in the preliminaries when they stopped the Polish, Americans and Portuguese, sent home the fancied Italians in the round of 16 and then stunned Spaniards to join the final four.
Their “legendary” journey ended when they lost to Germans 0-1, sending them to a consolation match with Turkey where they finished fourth. Brazil took home the World Cup by beating Germany 2-0.
The Koreans’ victory on their home soil was the result of their fabulous teamwork, fighting spirit and tactics by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, engineered, of course, by the dynamic support of the people, represented by the Red Devils, though there were some complaints from the losers about the home advantages. Has there been no home advantage in international sports competitions?
Just a week ago, I had to wake up until early Saturday morning, watching the final draw for the 2018 World Cup Russia held in Moscow.
Against the expectations of many fans, “Korea Republic” as named by FIFA was sent to Group F to meet the defending champion Germany, plus Mexico and Sweden. Many sighed: “Alas, we were sent to the Group of Death.” And the Japanese were happy as they went to Group G with Poland, Colombia and Senegal in the final draw against Korea.
In the November FIFA world ranking of 32 contestants in Russia, Korea Republic is at 59th, third from the bottom ahead of Saudi Arabia at 63th and host Russia at 65th.
It is no wonder football experts and mass media see little chance of Koreans to survive the preliminaries against the undisputed top contender Germany, the regular at World Cup Mexico, as well as Sweden who humiliated the Netherlands and Italy, in particular, in playoffs.
Four years ago in Brazil, we jubilated as our team would take on Belgium, Algeria and Russia in “one of the best groups ever.” But the results were miserable enough to kick out then-coach Hong Myung-bo, the star of the 2002 World Cup, as his boys were eliminated with one draw and two losses.
International critics and experts say Koreans are no longer the threat in Russia they were when they reached the semifinals in 2002 and are more likely to repeat the 2014 group-stage exit than the 2002 swashbuckling run to the final four.
The groupings of past competitions show the conditions of all the contestants are almost alike, whichever pot they belong to. For the South Korean team, grouping did not matter so much in light of the past results.
Frankly speaking, no other team is weaker than our team. As Tottenham start Son Heung-min who wet the pitch with a flurry of tears in Brazil in 2014 uttered, the ball is “round.” It goes everywhere. Every team has the chance as our team did in 2002. “It’s worth trying,” he said.
Paradoxically speaking, it may be a fortune for South Korea to meet Germany in Group F because the defending champion is expected, according to so many analysts, to beat Mexico and Sweden in its first two matches and then take on South Korea after the two wins to advance to the round of 16.
Returning home from Moscow after attending the draw ceremony, coach Shin Tae-yong said his side has a chance to survive the preliminaries despite what he called the tough group draw.
It may be difficult for our national team to beat the four-time World Cup champion and current No. 1 Germany but it has a chance against Mexico and Sweden as a team that competed in every World Cup since 1986 in Mexico.
Seven months are still left until the opening of the football festival. Seven months are enough for an impressive progress in our team’s tactics and players’ skills because they have the very room to grow further, compared with the well-established opponents.
A football coach told me jokingly, “Germany, ranked first, has no place to go. We are at the bottom. We have every place to go.”
There is no need to concern about the group draw. The situation is similar in all the different groups. All the groups, then, are “Groups of Death.”
The 2018 World Cup players should take a lesson from their 2002 seniors who made such a brilliant achievement against all odds by demonstrating their dauntless fighting spirit and perfect harmony under the leadership of Hiddink.
Of course, the public support and encouragement are needed to help players to run one more meter on the pitch.
Park Moo-jong is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation’s first English newspaper founded in 1951 from 2004 to 2014 after he worked as a reporter of the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com