Korean team making fresh start

By Nam Hyun-woo

The national football team is striving for a fresh start after its dismal performance in the Brazil World Cup.

In two warm-up matches for January’s Asian Cup, Korea recorded one win and one defeat, beating Venezuela 3-1 and losing 0-1 to Uruguay.

“Korea is a lively team which has qualified for the World Cup eight consecutive times. One loss doesn’t mean that hopes have died. ... I saw bright promise in their performance,” the newly appointed coach Uli Stielike said after the Uruguay match.

Shin Tae-yong, acting coach, led the team due to the delay in appointing the German head coach.

Striker Lee Dong-gook spearheaded Korea’s offense with his brace against Venezuela, producing a performance that many fans had wanted to see on the World Cup stage. Lee did not make it into the 23-man squad despite his scoring capabilities in the domestic K-League.

Playing in his 100th international match, Lee headed in the go-ahead goal early in the second half and netted a game-ending volley in front of more than 34,000 fans at Bucheon Stadium, who have been thirsting for victory ever since the Koreans’ winless World Cup campaign.

The win over Venezuela was the Koreans’ first win after five A matches, and the three goals that they scored in that game were the most they had netted in a single game this year.

Three days later, the Koreans faced the sixth-ranked Uruguayans, who had knocked them out in the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup, with Stielike watching the game at the Goyang Stadium.

Despite the defeat in the highly contested match, the Koreans were congratulated for fighting well.

This time, Shin not only made a change in his squad but also made a dramatic change in strategy.

Instead of giving Ki Sung-yeung his initial defensive midfielder role, Shin placed Ki in the center of the three-backed defense line, which proved an effective shift to press the Uruguayans.

Many fans and experts highly evaluate Shin’s leadership, after he led the Seongnam FC to win the AFC Champions League in 2010. But he said he was ready to toss the baton to Stielike.

“Now that Stielike is here, I’m ready to support him,” said Shin after the game against Uruguay.

Stielike is expected to take over the team for two friendly matches in October.