Korea to face S. Arabia in Olympic qualifier

By Cho Mu-hyun

The Olympic football team faces the Saudi Arabian outfit on Monday morning at 2:30 a.m. (KST) in its bid for its seventh straight appearance and ninth overall to enter the Games.

The Hong Myung-bo’s road to London did not seem to be bumpy at the start, as it had a runaway lead in Group A of the final qualification round with seven points, three clear of then runners-up Oman and Qatar.

However, the Under-23 team’s bid has taken a turn, as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Tuesday awarded Oman a 3-0 win over Qatar, overturning their 1-1 draw played on Nov. 27 last year. According to the AFC, Qatar fielded an ineligible player in the qualifier. Oman now has six points, only one point behind Korea.

Despite this the 42-year-old manager is confident, with his usual steadfast stern demeanor.

“It can be bad news for us, but I will use the situation as motivation to encourage players,” said Hong upon arrival at King Fahd International Airport, Dammam. “Every match from now on is important.”

Like their boss, the squad is focused on the game.

“We have trained hard in Qatar. Although Oman is trailing by one point, I will play my best in every game, instead of thinking about Oman,” said midfielder Yoon Bitgaram, who has provided backup for the forwards in important moments throughout the qualifiers.

Seo Jung-jin, who scored two goals in the King’s Cup in Thailand that the team entered as part of training, was even more confident. “Whatever the situation, we enter the main Games if we win all of the remaining Games, “he said. “We came to win so I will do my best for victory.”

The Under-23 finished their weeklong training at Doha, Qatar and will have an additional two days of preparations to put on the finishing touches.

“We executed training with plenty of time in Qatar. We spent the time to complement what we lacked and developing what we do well. The next two days will be focused on furthering those things,” said the manager.

The team remains undefeated since Hong was named manager in 2009 with eight wins and three draws. Their debut match in the London qualifiers against Jordan on June. 19 of last year at home saw them win by 3-1.

However, the two draws out of the three were all in away games in the Middle East. The team was held 1-1 in Jordon on June. 23 and in Qatar on Nov. 23. The Korean players have had trouble maintaining their condition in the desert climate, the biggest obstacle in performance for the senior team as well.

Hong acknowledged the huge sand storms that plague Dammam all year long, saying “I didn’t expect it to be this severe,” but went on to say that “We experienced this kind of sand storm in Qatar for a day. Maintaining a good condition will be important.”

“The weather is colder than I expected but that is no problem,” concurred Seo.

The manager has expressed his wishes to confirm entry to the Games “as fast as possible” since November of last year, referring to his intentions to secure the sport in the Olympics by finishing first in Group A. Only the winners of the three groups in Asia earn a direct ticket to London. The runner-ups face a more arduous journey, as they enter a round-robin playoff, and the victor faces Senegal afterwards.

The best scenario for the team is to have two straight wins in the upcoming Saudi fixture as well as the Oman match on Feb. 23. Two consecutive victories will make the home game against Qatar on March 14, the last of the qualifiers, a game of less significance, or rather, a celebration of Korea’s seventh straight entry into the Olympics. Hong might break into a rare smile when that happens