Korea Closes Out Tour
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The South Korean football team closed out its training tour in South Africa and Spain with a 1-0 win over Latvia on Kim Jae-sung's second-half winner Saturday (KST).
During the trip, Huh Jung-moo's side, comprised of 22 K-Leaguers and three J-Leaguers, played against Zambia, Finland, Latvia and two South African pro clubs and compiled a record of 3-1-1.
Despite the winning record, there were concerns prior to the tour about the strength of the five teams. Some questioned whether they gave the Korean side enough competition to effectively prepare for opponents in the group stage of the World Cup.
Korea has been drawn with Argentina, Nigeria and Greece in Group B.
To prepare for the match against the Diego Maradona-led Argentine team at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, located 1,753 meters above sea level, the Korean players spent 10 days in Rustenburg, which stands at 1,250 meters above sea level. It will be used as the base camp for them during the finals.
However, players struggled playing at high altitudes and were unfamiliar with Jabulani, the new official match ball for the South Africa World Cup, losing to Zambia 4-2, the most goals allowed under Huh's watch.
In addition, they did not play up to their billing as a seventh-straight qualifier against two local pro teams, notching one win and one draw.
After moving to Spain, the Taeguk Warriors won both matches against Finland and Latvia. Yet, the two teams failed to provide enough competition to help Korea prepare for its match on June 12 against Greece.
The 55-year-old boss has used a 4-4-2 formation almost exclusively since taking the reins in December 2007.
However, Huh believes a variety of formations will be required in the finals, so he tinkered with a defensive line, going with three backs instead of four in two matches against Platinum Stars FC and Latvia. He was not pleased with the results.
``Players need to understand and adapt to the formation better,'' he said.
Through the training, Huh has been plagued by strikers struggling on the team.
The Korean team netted five goals in three international matches, but no forward found the target, as midfielders Kim Jung-woo, Koo Ja-cheol and Kim Jae-sung, and defenders Oh Beom-seok and Lee Jung-soo provided the scoring touch.
Attacker Lee Dong-gook scored twice against second-tier leaguer Bay United FC in a 3-1 win.
``While (Latvia) played tight defense, my players still failed to score despite creating chances,'' Huh said after the match.
``It was pitiful that they lacked concentration and sharpness in front of goal.''