Unconvincing S. Koreans to take on Australia

National football team manager Uli Stielike appears to be deep in thought as the South Korean team trains at the Perry Park Stadium in Brisbane ahead of his team’s Asian Cup match against host Australia. / Yonhap

Problems shown in previous games should be addressed before facing mighty hosts

By Nam Hyun-woo

The South Koreans managed to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in Australia, but pessimism is growing that the trophy is more elusive than they thought.

Koreans struggled Tuesday to clinch a 1-0 win against Kuwait, the opponents believed to be easily beaten.

An excuse for coach Uli Stielike would be that he had only 14 men available for the game at Canberra because a string of key players picked up injuries and illness.

Winger Lee Chung-yong, expected to bring brilliance to his side, flew back home because of hair line fracture in the shin and right-back Kim Chang-soo also suffers an injury in the right thigh.

Other losses occurred when cold swept wing forward Son Heung-min, attacking midfielder Koo Ja-cheol and goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyun. They all missed the match. Criticism stirred over the national team's staff members for allowing virus to hamper the players' performance.

Thanks to Nam Tae-hee's header in the 36th minute, the South Koreans could end the first half in a good mood, but the second half came as a nightmare.

The combination of Kim Young-gwon, Jang Hyun-soo, Kim Jin-su and Cha Du-ri in defense was not organized at all and seemed not knowing where they should stand. The fact that Kuwait coach Nabil Maaloul took the job just three weeks ago and Aziz Mashaan of Kuwait was named MVP of the game also irritated fans here.

“I started to manage the team just three weeks ago, but our men spent good first half and fantastic second half,” Maaloul said.

What Casts more worries is that the Taeguk Warriors could only scored total two goals in their Group A matches so far against Oman and Kuwait, who are regarded as the weakest among 16 countries in Australia.

While South Korea netted one goal each in the two games, another Group A member, Australia, bombarded them, scoring four goals in each games.

When South Korea bagged an identical 1-0 win against Oman on last Saturday, Stielike said “A win by narrow margin is better than a landslide victory. It is not good to be talked as a favorite prematurely.”

However, as sloppy performance continues, despite losses in the squads, football watchers express concern that there was not enough time for the German coach.

The South Koreans will take on the hosts at Brisbane Stadium to decide who will top the Group A. The game bears more importance because the runner up will face Group B winner, China, who showed solid performances during the two previous games against Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

Both South Korea and Australia have six points in bank, but the hosts can top the group with a draw, because they have advantage in goal difference. Saturday's winner will face either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan, who will vie for the last ticket to the knock-out stage. Another Group B member, North Korea, has been eliminated after two straight losses.

Fortunate for Stielike is the three players who caught cold have recovered. “Son, Koo and Kim would join training on Thursday,” a Korea Football Association (KFA) official said.