Will Lebanon match be easy?
Kwak Tae-hwi, left, Lee Dong-gook, center, and Kim Nam-il of Korea’s senior national football team train at a facility in Beirut Monday ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Lebanon. / Yonhap
Underwhelming Korea prepares for crucial World Cup qualifier in Beirut
By Kim Tong-hyung
Laboring through the World Cup qualifying stage, Korea has, so far, barely resembled a regional powerhouse seeking its eighth consecutive appearance on world football’s biggest stage. But that didn’t stop veteran striker Lee Dong-gook from talking big ahead of Wednesday’s qualifier against Lebanon in Beirut.
"I don’t think Lebanese players are mentally tough,’’ the 34-year-old Jeonbuk Motors forward told Korean reporters in the Lebanese capital, an audacious comment for a player whose shortcomings in international football were attributable to timidity.
"If we play well early and score early, I can easily see them self-destruct.’’
For Korea, that is a larger "if’’ than it should be.
Korea manager Choi Kang-hee will likely bring Son Heung-min, left, the 21-year-old star striker for Hamburg, and Kim Shin-wook, a towering forward currently with Ulsan Hyundai FC, off the bench. / Yonhap
Lebanon, a lowly presence on the football totem pole, isn’t supposed to send a shiver down the spine of Korea. But neither was Qatar and it nearly derailed the Taeguk Warriors from their World Cup quest in the previous qualifier in Seoul back in March, before Son Heung-min bailed out his coach and country with a game-winner in the dying seconds of the game.
Choi has failed to coax his players into playing better than the sum of their parts. The lack of identity in the attack has been particularly alarming, with young players such as Son ― the 21-year-old Hamburg striker who has triggered a bidding war between top European clubs ― and Koo Ja-cheol unable to gel with the styles of veterans like Lee.
The Koreans are heavily favored over the Lebanese hosts, who have nothing to play for at this point, but Choi’s old and fragile squad has shown no intention to make anything look easy.
Against Lebanon, Lee will likely be employed as the target man and backed by a jet-footed trio of attackers in Lee Keun-ho, Lee Chung-yong and Kim Bo-kyung, with Son once again prepared as a change-of-pace player on the bench.
Kim Nam-il, a 36-year-old veteran of three World Cups, will form a central midfield axis with youngster Lee Myoung-ju to protect a defensive line that has been shaky. Kwak Tae-hwi, the national team captain, and Jung In-hwan are expected to start as the central defenders, flanked by fullbacks Kim Chi-woo and Kim Chang-soo. Jung Sung-ryong will make his 48th appearance in the net for Korea.
Korea is currently in second place in Group A with 10 points, a point behind Uzbekistan and three ahead of Iran and Qatar, with Lebanon stuck in last place with four points. The top two teams from the group will earn berths to next year’s World Cup finals, while the third-place team will be thrown in a do-or-die playoff.
A win a against Lebanon will put the Koreans in an ideal position to reach Brazil as it would then need to win only one of the two remaining qualifiers at home to lock its spot. Choi’s primary job was always to survive the qualifying stages, and as unimaginative as a strategist he has been, he just might manage that.
The match against Lebanon kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday local time and 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in Korea. The match will be covered lived by MBC television.