Korea heads to London on winning note

By Jung Min-ho

The Korea Under-23 team left for London Sunday, after beating New Zealand 2-1 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium the day before, raising hopes for a first Olympic football medal at the Summer Games.

“The team is quickly reaching their full potential. I think, stamina-wise, the players are at 90 percent, and strategy-wise, 80 percent. I will try my best to make up the missing 10 and 20 percent for the rest of the period,” team manager Hong Myung-bo said at Incheon International Airport.

“I have been with the team for a long time. I want to bring this run to a successful conclusion. We will come back after doing our best right up to the end.”

Of Arsenal’s Park Chu-young who was on the scoresheet Saturday, Hong said, “He still has room for improvement.”

Arsenal forward Park Chu-young celebrates with teammates after a skillful back heel finish for the first goal against New Zealand at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Saturday. / AP-Yonhap

Saturday’s game against New Zealand kicked into gear when Celitic midfielder Ki Sung-yueng fired in a shot on eight minutes. However, Korea’s offense was shaky with some wayward passing until Park Chu-young’s skilful back heel finish opened the scoring for the home side in the 18th minutes following Jeonnam Dragons midfielder Yoon Suk-young’s cross.

With the momentum, Korea started dominating the match, overwhelming the visitors with constant goal attempts. Despite clever build-up play, the score remained 1-0 at the break. When Perth Glory forward Shane Smeltz equalized in the 73rd, Korea stuttered briefly before retaking the lead with Nam Tae-hee’s close-range winner ten minutes later.

“I really appreciate the fans that came to our last friendly on home turf. I believe the victory will positively affect the players at the Olympics,” Hong said following the game. “I’m also satisfied with the fact that the game ended with no injuries.”

After the game, Oly Whites coach Neil Emblen praised the opponents, saying “South Korea had their share of chances and could've punished us, but we asked the players to be braver on the ball and we created more chances tonight.”

"Korea were causing us trouble out wide but we addressed that at halftime and went toe-to-toe with them for a long period in the second half," Emblen said.

Sweeping aside the skepticism and the controversial delaying of his mandatory military service, Park proved his ability as a striker throughout the game. Aside from scoring the first goal, he created many chances for the midfielders by distracting the New Zealand defense with his constant movement.

Despite the rain, more than 30,000 fans headed to the stadium to support Korea.

The U-23s will play a final friendly against Senegal on Friday, before starting the Olympic competition against Mexico on July 26. Korea will then face Switzerland on July 30 and the Gabon on August 2.