Ki brings youth to squad
By Cho Mu-hyun
Ki Sung-yeung’s comparatively young age is no barrier in representing his country.
Though Choi Kang-hee has picked a group of experienced players for the make-or-break Kuwait fixture on Feb. 29, the 23-year-old Celtic midfielder’s impressive skills were hard to ignore.
Ki is one of only three non- K-League players chosen by the 52-year-old Choi for his first national team selection alongside Arsenal’s Park Chu-young and Al Sadd’s Lee Jung-soo. He has been named on the roster despite the unclear status of his injury by the manager and the coaching staff due to his importance to the team.
He is known for his accurate passing and set pieces, which his current club acknowledges as well, being widely used as a dead-ball specialist.
The midfielder currently plays for the Scottish outfit with compatriot Cha Du-ri. But he has been on the bench more than the field since an injury to the right thigh last month, raising concerns from sports commentators here that he may be passed over by the 52-year-old manager.
However, he played against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Sunday (KST), coming on 28 minutes into the second half to prove his injury is behind him. His place in the squad was in doubt when he was listed as a substitute for the game against Hearts on Thursday but didn’t play.
It is likely that he will at least be on the bench and see more playing time in Celtic’s three fixtures before Feb. 27, making him fit to be deployed against Kuwait to act as support for forwards Park Chu-young and Lee Dong-gook. He may even participate in the friendly against Uzbekistan on Feb. 25, if Celtic accepts the Korea Football Association’s (KFA) request to release him from his club duties early.
He is the youngest player called up by the manager who had repeatedly pronounced that he was planning a “veteran squad,” along with Jeju United’s Hong Jeong-ho, captain of the Under-23 team lead by Hong Myung-bo, who is also 23.
Choi admitted that most of the “futures of Korean football” were absent due to the all-or-nothing nature of the World Cup qualifying match on Feb. 29. Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won, Wolfsburg’s Koo Ja-cheol and Hamburger’s Son Heung-min, who also featured prominently under former manager Cho Kwang-rae, failed to make the cut. Ki alone has remained in the new manager’s plans, thanks mostly due his abilities to make sharp long passes.
At 1.87 meters, tall for a Korean, last year’s KFA Most Valuable Player is likely to repay Choi’s faith in him if he can regain full fitness.