By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Since its superb World Cup showing in 2002, South Korean football has been wilting under an era of decline that now threatens its survival as a serious football nation.
Now, South Korea's under-23 manager Park Sung-hwa vows to restore some lost respect by bringing home the country's first Olympic football medal at the Summer Games in Beijing. It's entirely another matter whether he has the right men to do the job.
Hundreds of the country's elite athletes will be competing for personal glory at the August Olympics, but it's safe to say that the footballers will garner the most interest from their countrymen, whose nature is to convert the streets of downtown Seoul into massive crimson tides during every major football tourney.
The performance of Park's side in Beijing draws particular attention because the players are likely to provide the core of the squad that would be sent to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa should the country qualify.
Park admits there's pressure of delivering on the huge expectations, but says he is confident that his squad is good enough to push South Korea's rebuilding process forward.
However, drawn into the same group with football powerhouses Italy and Cameroon and another decent squad in Honduras assures a tough challenge for the Koreans.
``Our goal has always been earning a spot on the podium, and I don't see any reason to change that," said Park in an interview with The Korea Times.
`` I want to build a team with pace on the flanks and effective on the counterattack, which has defined South Korean football in the past.
``I like what we have in firepower, especially in the midfield where players like Lee Chung-yong, Lee Sang-ho and Ki Seong-yong give us a strong foundation behind attackers like Park Chu-young and Lee Keun-ho.''
Although Park has a clear idea of the team he wants to build, he isn't allowed too much time to find the right combination of players and tactics.
Due to the tight schedule of domestic clubs, Park won't be able to summon the players on his provisional 30-man roster until July 7, just a couple of weeks before he submits the final 23 names for the Olympic team on July 23.
This means that a July 16 friendly against Guatemala's senior national team would serve as the only audition before Park selects his men for Beijing.
``The team hasn't played together since training in Spain in January, so recovering the cohesion between players and developing strategies for them after a seven-month gap will be a difficult challenge," said Park.
Park will test his Olympians in friendly matches against the under-23 squads of Ivory Coast (July 26) and Australia (July 31) before their Olympic opener against Cameroon on Aug. 7.
South Korea then faces Italy on Aug. 10 and finishes its Group D fixtures against Honduras on Aug. 13. Park is worried most about the first two opponents, although Inter Milan forward David Suazo and Wigan midfielder Wilson Palacios could make Honduras a totally different team should they opt to play in Beijing.
Park and his coaching staff scouted the Cameroon players in their friendly against Japan earlier this month and left with respect for their size, strength and athleticism.
International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) restricts entry to the Olympic tournament to players born after Jan. 1, 1985, but each squad is allowed to carry three over-aged players as ``wild card" picks.
The possibility of Barcelona's superstar forward Samuel Eto'o and Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song joining the former Olympic champions certainly comes as a scary thought for Park.
Park also got a glimpse of the Italians when they were crowned champions at the Toulon Tournament in France in May.
The team looked like the younger version of the ``Azzurri" recently featured in the European Football Championship, Park said, built around a strictly controlled 4-3-3 system that dominates possession and looks for breaks on the counterattack.
Park was particularly impressed by the Graziano Pelle, a colossal 1.93-meter striker for Dutch club AZ, who reminded him of Luca Toni.
Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi is also likely to join Italy's under-23 team and coach Pierluigi Casiraghi could also expect veteran help from the stars from the country's senior squad that topped the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
``Italy is clearly one of the best teams in the tournament," Park said.
``After watching them play, I knew right away that we can't beat this team by staying timid and stroking the ball around. It is crucial that we attack them with pace and purpose."
Although short in conventional strikers, Park's squad has an abundance of jet-footed attackers, who excel at getting separation. Playing to the team's strengths, Park is looking to create a high-octane offense with plenty of width and believes that adopting a 4-4-2 is the best way to do it.
Park Chu-young, the FC Seoul star who struggled in his role as lone striker for the senior team, will finally be playing with a foil in Daegu FC striker Lee Keun-ho, who is lauded by the coach for his direct approach and scorer's mentality.
Kim Seung-yong and Lee Chung-yong will support the strikers on the attacks, although Park is also considering placing Chung-yong in the hole or as a support striker to reduce his defensive burden.
Oh Jang-eun and Lee Sang-ho will combine as a center midfield axis to protect the back four, while fullbacks Choi Chul-soon and Shin Kwang-hoo will be freed up to join the attack.
``Our basic system will be the 4-4-2, although we may switch to a 4-2-3-1 when we need to grab a larger share in possession," said Park.
``We need to be effective on the counterattack and the roles of our fullbacks in our offense would be crucial."
Park, who is looking to add a flank player and holding midfielder with his wild card picks, is looking closely to Zenit St. Petersburg defender Kim Dong-jin, who is nearly recovered from a knee injury, and Chunnam Dragons standout Kim Chi-woo.
West Bromwich Albion playmaker Kim Do-heon is also a candidate, although Park would rather prefer more of a destroyer type who could shift wide when necessary to cover for the advancing fullbacks.
The country's highest-profile striker, Jeonbuk Motors' Cho Jae-jin, is out of the picture, as Park looks to ditch the target man.
``Shin Young-rok and Seo Dong-hyun are both main striker types and have been flourishing in the domestic league, so there is no need to use a wild card on Cho, who looks slower than when he was at his top form," said Park.
``We don't have a player with an aerial ability that would scare the bigger defenders from Cameroon or Italy anyway, and we don't have defenders who excel at airing long passes toward the frontline with accuracy.''
Park is drawing up a fluid, interchangeable attacking configuration that takes full advantage of his attacking talent in the midfield. Even in a 4-2-3-1 setting, the main striker, penciled as Chu-young, wouldn't be solely responsible for stretching the defense, but instead asked to drop deep and open up space for the three midfield marauders behind him.
Park believes that his use of Chu-young as a support striker or in a free-roaming role in the midfield may revive the career of the 23-year-old once hailed as the future of Korean football.
Chu-young boasted a high scoring rate in international matches earlier in his career, but saw his progress slowed by injuries in the past years. Park believes that FC Seoul is partially responsible for Chu-young's decline by yanking him around in different positions, including assignments on the left wing.
``Chu-young's best quality is his scoring, but it's anybody's guess why he is taking corner kicks for his club," said Park.
``Chu-young the scorer has been turning into Chu-young the distributor, and he seems to have lost his scorer's mentality in the process. We need him to find it again.''