ed Toward Brazil, and beyond

Fans who watched Korea’s football match against Iran Tuesday must have felt puzzled over whether to be glad or gloomy.

Despite the 0-1 loss, the nation will advance to the World Cup finals _ for the eighth time in a row ― in Brazil next year after edging out Uzbekistan on goal differential. But the entire preliminary round, including the final game, was not just disappointing but humiliating.

The national squad is no longer the one that finished fourth in the 2002 tournament at home, nor even the team which won a berth in the group of 16, for the first time in an away event, in South Africa three years ago.

There were neither sharp strikers nor reliable defenders. Rapid, systematic passing plays were absent with the footballers resorting to long, high kicks to the center, a typical Korean tactic dating back to the 1970s. The only difference to those days: today’s boys lack the guts and fighting spirit of their seniors.

Korea used to present itself as the leader of Asian soccer. But that title has long since gone to Japan, which has represented this continent in the last three Confederation Cups, a mini-World Cup among regional champions. Right after Korea suffered a humiliating setback by Iran, Japan dominated most of the game against Italy, a two-time World Cup champion, in the Confed Cup.

What’s gone wrong with the national team and what should be done?

True, they need a new, better coach, local or foreign, and probably a stronger captain ― Guus Hiddink and Park Ji-sung come to mind. Such key figures are indispensable to avoid more disgrace in Brazil, let alone advancing to quarterfinals, as the Korea Football Association vowed in Johannesburg three years ago.

More fundamentally, however, Korean football needs a far longer-term strategy to regain the reputation of Asian champion, as Japan did from a few decades ago. This reversely shows how KFA has administered the sport in short-term, makeshift ways, failing to see beyond the most immediate World Cup finals. At the end of the day, fans, both here and abroad, can hardly visualize exactly what Korean football should look like nor expect constant, even minimum, levels of performance from its national squad.

The nation needs to fix its own style of football first. Until when should fast, diligent players remain the image of Korean soccer?