Olympic Team Exposes Lack of Firepower
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
With the top strikers of South Korea's under-23 football squad shelved with injuries and suspensions, the stage was set for the team's second-tier players to impress in a friendly match against Qatar Tuesday.
However, after putting up an uninspiring performance that doubled as an audition for the Olympic qualifier against Bahrain on Sept. 9, the team's misfiring attackers could only thank goalkeeper Song You-gual for a goalless draw.
The friendly against Qatar was anything but, as both teams played out an increasingly ill-tempered match that became of duel of 10-man units when Baek Ji-hoon and Belal Mohammed got their marching orders after a second-half altercation.
That was one of the rare moments when the Koreans showed any sense of urgency as they failed to attack an apparently shaky Qatar defense with pace and purpose and left Al Ahli Stadium looking dazed and confused.
Korean manager Park Sung-hwa was looking to test his younger players against Qatar, continuing to search for ways to offset his shortage in ammunition up front with two of the team's most potent attackers unavailable for the upcoming Bahrain match.
FC Seoul striker Park Chu-young, the squad's most experienced player in international tournaments, has yet to recover from a mysterious foot injury and Daegu FC midfielder Lee Keun-ho is serving a one-match suspension after picking up his second yellow card in last month's qualifier against Uzbekistan.
Coach Park trotted out a frontline of Shin Young-rok (Suwon Samsung) and Shim Young-sung (Jeju United) against Qatar, with U20 team star Park Joo-ho (Soongsil Univ.) taking Lee's place at left wing and Lee Sang-ho (Ulsan Hyundai) starting on the other side of the flank.
However, Korea's newly-named starters failed to make the most of their rare appearance allowing the momentum to swing back to their opponents who came close on a number of opportunities.
Defender Jung In-hwan (Jeongbuk Hyundai) nearly gave Korea the lead in the seventh minute but his shot from distance sailed just above the bar. Shin had a clear-cut chance in the 21st minute when he managed to break free inside the box but his header off a cross from Shim was knocked down by the Qatar goalkeeper.
With the Koreans coming short of providing a constant threat, Qatar became more aggressive with the ball in the later parts of the first half, although many of their attacks ended up with hasty long-range attempts that broke their rhythm.
Coach Park aborted his experiment in the second-half, replacing the youngster Joo-ho with Kim Seung-yong (Gwangju Sangmu) and inserting Baek in the central midfield as an attacker to support the frontline.
Shin botched another chance in the 47th minute when his screamer from the edge of the box went high above the bar. The bumbling striker was replaced by Ha Tae-goon (Suwon Samsung) in the 62nd minute and the newcomer immediately made his presence felt, whipping a dangerous cross that Kim managed to head straight into the hands of the Qatari goalkeeper.
With the offense continuing to look sloppy, coach Park inserted Han Dong-won (Seongnam Ilhwa) to take Lee's spot on the right flank, but the personnel changes did little to breath air into a lifeless attack.
Tempers flared in the 75th minute, when Ha and Mohammed got tangled in a shoving match after colliding in the air vying for the ball. The altercation, quickly joined by the teammates of both, resulted in Baek and Mohammed being sent off.