By Cho Mu-hyun
Korea’s Olympic footballers will face their counterparts from Qatar at the Al Sadd Stadium in Doha at 1 am. (KST), Thursday.
Korea leads Group A in the third stage of Asian qualifying for the 2012 London Games with three points, having won the first match against Oman 2-0 at the Changwon Football Center in September. After meeting Qatar, the squad will return to Seoul to face Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
If Korea qualifies it will be the nation’s seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympics.
Manager Hong Myung-bo commenced training as soon as all 20 players arrived in Doha Friday, starting with passing and shooting drills.
The team proceeded to focus on the 4-3-2-1 formation it will employ, practicing quick maneuvers while retaining the shape while switching between offense and defense. Set pieces as well as mini-games were also part of the practice schedule.
A yellow vest usually designates a player is in the starting 11, but during the intense training, Hong told the players to exchange vests at various intervals as he did not want them to become complacent and lose focus.
“In the present condition, I don’t want them to relax,” said Hong. “The important thing is how they adapt to the playing conditions during the real game.
“There are a lot of things that you can only learn through experience about tours in the Middle East. It is detrimental that our players’ lack that experience, but I will put every scenario possible in their heads before sending them out to the pitch.”
Failing to adjust to a different locale can be damaging, as shown in the senior side’s 2-1 loss against Lebanon in a recent World Cup qualifier.
Several of the players are not at their best ahead of Thursday’s game. Hong Jeong-ho, Hong Chul, Yoon Bitgaram and Suh Jung-jin joined the Olympic squad right after World Cup qualifiers against the UAE and Lebanon.
Midfielder Hong Jeong-ho is key to the team’s defensive platform but he was on the field for the full 90 minutes against the UAE and 71 minutes in the Lebanon game.
Kim Bo-kyung and Cho Yeong-chul, who play in the J-League are missing due to club obligations.
Despite the unfavorable circumstances, the 42-year-old manager is confident: “We are preparing fine without any problems. The players are following my instructions well.”
Sunday will see the end of this year’s Olympic qualifiers, with three out of six completed. The Asian preliminaries will continue next year, with Korea traveling to Saudi Arabia on Feb. 5 and then Oman on Feb. 22. Korea’s last game will be at home against Qatar on March 14.