Cho to test prospects
By Yi Whan-woo
Korean football manager Cho Kwang-rae is on a search for new talent by selecting defender Kim Ju-young and forward Seok Hyun-joon in his 23-man national squad, Monday.
The 14 Korean internationals playing overseas whom Cho has called up, including Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung and Bolton Wanderers’ winger Lee Chung-yong, will join the squad for the friendly against Iran on Sept. 7 in Seoul.
Both Seok and Kim Ju-young are set to appear in their first-ever senior international match.
Cho is taking this opportunity to test potential future stars in naming Gyeongnam FC defender Kim Ju-young. Kim played under Cho at Gyeongnam from last year until Cho was appointed to lead the national team on July 21 by the Korea Football Association. Cho took note of Kim’s speed and understanding in defense when he coached the 22-year-old in the K-league. Kim is expected to adapt himself to Cho’s tactics of employing his speed and a short passing game.
The youngster will need to earn his place among his compatriots. Lee Jung-soo and Cho Yong-hyung already proved their value at the World Cup this year. Kwak Tae-hwi is another rival in defense despite missing football’s biggest tournament because of a knee injury.
“It is hard to find anyone with more speed than Kim in central defense,” Cho said.
“Though he still has weaknesses to play at international level, I will test his skills in the Iran match,” the manager added.
Along with Kim, Seok joined the squad since Cho has appreciated him playing in the highly competitive Dutch first division with Ajax. Though this will be the first experience for Kim to play with the national squad, Seok has already shown ability while playing in the U-20 team last year.
Since making his Ajax debut this February, the forward finally found the net in a 3-1 win over Arsenal in a friendly in July. The 19-year-old will play in attack along with Park Chu-young who scored against Nigeria in the World Cup group stage in South Africa.
Among the 14 overseas players, midfielder Lee Chung-yong is anticipated to boost the team. Cho said his plan is to utilize Lee by letting the midfielder advance to support the striker.
“Lee is doing so great as the right winger, so we need to get the most out of him on the field,” the manager said.
“With Lee joining the team, I will make a slight variation to the 3-4-2-1 formation by letting him participate in the attack actively,” Cho explained.
Other notable overseas players in this squad are the five J-League footballers _ defenders Kwak of Kyoto Sanga FC and Park Joo-ho and Kim Young-kwon of Jubilo Iwata, midfielders Kim Bo-kyung of Oita Trinita and Cho Young-cheol of Albirex Niigata. Cho has been keeping an eye on the Korean internationals in the J-League since the friendly against Nigeria in August.
yistory@koreatimes.co.kr