South Korea Gets Manageable World Cup Draw
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's goal of reaching the knockout stage on foreign soil for the first time ever looks to be within reach, as the Taeguk Warriors received a manageable draw at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The 52nd-ranked Asians were grouped with Argentina, Nigeria and Greece in the final draw held in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday morning (KST).
Although their opponents are still regarded as some of the world's best, their shaky forms in qualification gives Korean football manager Huh Jung-moo and his men strong hopes of going beyond the group stage.
The South Koreans, who have played in seven World Cups since 1954, advanced to the semifinal on home soil in 2002 - the only time the team has progressed beyond the group stage.
In addition, Korea will face only one European team in the group stage for the first time since 1986, a good sign for a squad that has struggled against teams from the continent.
"In a World Cup, there are no easy matches, so I have no reason to complain about our group. We are up against very strong teams. Every game we will play is difficult but we also had tough assignments in the Asian qualifying round,'' said Huh, who faced current Argentine boss Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup - a 3-1 victory for Argentina -- when both were players.
"Obviously a team like Argentina will start as favorites. They have very good players who are well-known but that is not a problem for us. We are used to starting from the back. We played against them at the 1986 World Cup and we lost but with the experience gained and lessons learned, we hope we can do better."
Argentina qualified for the 10th straight time, and has qualified for the quadrennial event 15 times out of 18, winning it all twice, in 1978 and 1986. The South Americans were also runners-up twice, in 1930 and 1990.
However, the world No. 8 did not live up to its old glory in its qualifying campaign, managing a record of 8-4-6 to finish fourth.
Maradona took over the team's reigns in October 2008, replacing Alfio Basile, who had guided the team to a 4-4-2 record in qualification up until that point.
The 49-year-old was constantly under siege from critics for his unpredictable tactics which saw him use 50 footballers in eight games.
Despite its lackluster play of late, the team is still unquestionably the favorite to top the pool thanks to attacking talents such as Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona, Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid and Carlos Tevez of Manchester City.
Argentina is 2-0 against Korea in the international fixtures.
Since reaching the round of 16 in its first two World Cup appearances in 1994 and 1998, the No. 22-ranked Nigerians have been unable to repeat that success.
In 2002, the Super Eagles were drawn into the group of death with England, Argentina and Sweden and crashed out of the first round and then failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
It took manager Shaibu Amodu's side until the final day of qualification to punch its ticket to South Africa, when they posted a 3-2 win against Kenya.
After a difficult qualifying campaign, there are now rumors that Amodu could be replaced by former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini.
The Nigerians are not known for the defense but will bring a group of dangerous offensive players, including Yakubu Aiyegbeni of Everton and Obafemi Martins of Wolfsburg, while John Obi Mikel of Chelsea takes charge of midfield.
They will also receive a boost with the event being held in Africa for the first time.
Korea has a 2-1-0 record against Nigeria.
Greece was the surprise winners of Euro 2004 but is seen as a team that Korea could pick up a point against.
Greece has done little of note since the win in 2004. It failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and was eliminated from the group stage at Euro 2008.
In its only previous World Cup appearance in 1994, it was shut out in three games, allowing 10 goals.
Renowned commander Otto Rehhagel's side finished second to Switzerland in Group 2 in qualifying.
Bayer Leverkusen striker Theo Gekas, who scored 10 goals in the European qualifying, is Greece's biggest offensive threat.
Korea faced Greece in 2006 and 2007 and notched one win and one draw.