South Korea’s Final 23 Shaping Up
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
After South Korean football manager Huh Jung-moo has spent a lot of time penciling in and erasing names, his final 23-man roster for this summer's World Cup, which begins on June 11, appears to be finally shaping up.
Other than injured striker Park Chu-young of AS Monaco, the 55-year-old skipper seemed to use every player he plans to include on his 23-man roster, using all foreign-based footballers, in a friendly with Cote d'Ivoire Wednesday, the last international match before naming the official list.
The World Cup rosters are due on June 1, but Huh intends to announce his in late April.
In attack, Park Chu-young is undisputedly the best forward in the squad, so when he recovers from a thigh injury, he is a virtual lock for one of the four striker positions.
Lee Keun-ho of Jubilo Iwata gave a solid performance as Park's partner up top during qualifying and Lee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk Motors has scored a goal in two straight international caps, increasing his hopes of stepping on the pitch on football's grandest stage.
For the last remaining spot, three players ― Ahn Jung-hwan, Lee Seung-yeoul and Seol Ki-hyeon ― will battle it out.
Ahn joined the national team after a 20-month absence and took the field in the second half against Cote d'Ivoire.
Even though the 34-year-old Dalian Shide forward failed to find the back of the net, he was threatening, earning praise from his boss.
"We need players who can score in any situation. Ahn did not score, but his play was not bad,'' Huh said.
Lee, the 2008 rookie of the year in the K-League, is now nervously awaiting the results.
The FC Seoul forward, who also played for Korea at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt last year, notched two goals at the East Asian Football Championship in Japan in February, but Ahn's arrival knocked him down the pecking order and he did not get a chance to play against the African side.
To make his situation worse, Lee, capped in January for the first time, has a short career on the international stage, which is not attractive to Huh.
Seol, who ended his Premiership career and returned to Korea with Pohang Steelers to keep alive his dream to play in his third World Cup, will be able to force his way into the mix if he shows some decent football in the K-League.
The midfield is stacked with high-profile footballers the likes of Park Ji-sung of Manchester United, Lee Chung-yong of Bolton Wanderers, Ki Sung-yueng of Celtic FC and Kim Jung-woo of Gwangju Sangmu, the Korean military club.
Meaning Huh's most difficult task will be to come up with a backline.
On the flanks, Kim Bo-kyung of Oita Trinita and Kim Jae-sung of Pohang Steelers have already gotten the nod from Huh.
Kim Bo-kyung displayed a solid showing at the East Asian event, while Kim Jae-sung set up Kwak Tae-hwi's goal against Cote d'Ivoire.
Two-time World Cup player Kim Nam-il of FC Tom Tomsk and Shin Hyung-min of Steelers are expected to be included on the roster as central midfielders.
In addition, Suwon BlueWings duo Yeom Ki-hun and Cho Won-hee still have a chance to work their way into the final squad.
"Seol Ki-hyeon, Cho Won-hee and even injured Yeom Ki-hun are on my radar now," Huh said.
Yeom was ruled out right before the East Asian Championship due to a foot injury and Cho returned to his former club to play top level football, which he believes is the top way to get on the list.
At the back, where eight players will be picked, Lee Young-pyo of Al-Hilal and Cha Du-ri of FC SC Freiburg, both of whom played the full 90 minutes against the Elephants, are a lock at the wing back positions and Ulsan Tigers defenders Kim Dong-jin and Oh Beom-seok have an edge as stand-ins.
At the center of the back four, Lee Jung-soo of Kashima Antlers, Kwak Tae-hwi of Kyoto Sanga and Kang Min-soo of BlueWings will compete to pair with Cho Yong-hyung of Jeju United.
Suwon goalie Lee Woon-jae, Kim Young-kwang of Tigers and Jung Sung-ryong of Seongnam Chunma are, pending injury, likely to be used to guard the net.
"Although many of the spots have been decided, I will still watch players who can perform well in the finals,'' Huh said.