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If South Korea is to realize its dream of making its first away tournament Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the most important step will be its first match against Greece, to be held at 8:30 p.m. on June 12 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The team must get three points with a victory over Greece, seen as a relatively easy opponent in the B Group, allowing the team to head into its second and third matches with less of a sense of burden. Those matches will be against major favorite Argentina, at 8:30 p.m. on June 17 at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, and the Super Eagles of Nigeria, at 3:30 a.m. on June 23 at Durban Stadium.

What, then, is the best possible scenario for Huh’s team? This would be a victory over Greece and a tie with Argentina, followed by a win over Nigeria for a 2 wins-1 tie record and seven points. Of course, it could secure a place in the last 16 with a 1 win-2 ties record and five points, as spots are given to the top two finishers in each group. There is no reason to rule out a possible 3 wins record altogether.

During off-season training in Austria prior to the team’s trek to South Africa, Huh, the 55-year-old coach of the national team, hinted at a Final 16 scenario that takes into account “selection and concentration.” In this view, Greece is a must-win, Argentina will require putting up a good fight, and Nigeria will be a decisive match. As a precondition for finishing second in the group with a 1-1-1 record, Huh said Argentina would have to win every match.

“If Argentina wins all three matches and takes its first match against Nigeria with a large margin of victory, that would be icing on the cake,” said Huh.

The key to a win over Greece is getting on the scoreboard quickly. “The World Cup is a short-term competition, so there are a lot of variables in the victory, including the athletes’ condition on the day of the match,” said Kim Se-yun, a competitive strength analyst for the national team. “The important thing is how quickly South Korea can get a goal in against Greece.” Kim continued, “Once we have that first goal, we can win easily. But if we let them score first, things will become more difficult.”

During its Austria training, the South Korean team looked lethargic in a test match against Belarus, which it lost 0-1. In its last test match with potential winner Spain, however, it buoyed expectations with a very close contest characterized by solid organization, despite key attacker Park Ji-sung of Manchester United being sidelined with a minor injury. Unfortunately, it did allow a decisive goal to Spain in the final stages of the match.


A likely scenario for the Greece match is Park Chu-young of AS Monaco and Yeom Ki-hoon of Suwon Samsung coming out as strikers, Park Ji-sung and Lee Chung-yong of Bolton Wanderers as left and right forwards, and Ki Sung-yong of the Celtic and Kim Jung-woo of Gwangju Sangmu as center midfielders. Analysts say that the team’s fate ultimately hinges on Park Chu-young’s performance as a “fixer.”

With Park trained to his fullest against tall European defenders in the famously rough French Ligue 1, viewers can look forward to him hitting hard in the Greece match, where tall defenders are doing the blocking. Park brings with him a superior sense for goals along with strong heading skills and outstanding free kick scoring ability.


“Left-foot master” Yeom is also capable enough of landing goals in a free kick scenario and is a contender to make an early goal against Greece with the threat of his left-footed mid-distance shot. Heroics can also be expected from Lee Seung-ryul of FC Seoul, who earned a spot on the final roster by nudging aside Lee Keun-ho of Jubilo Iwata in the final Asian qualifying for the South Africa World Cup. As soon as he was put into the game late in a test match against Ecuador held on May 16 at Seoul World Cup Stadium, he succeeded in making the shot that opened the floodgates for victory, capturing the heart of coach Huh. He is currently working at staying in top condition and awaiting deployment. Though he is a wildcard, his swift movement and good scoring sense are exciting expectations.


The fearless “twin dragons” Ki Sung-yong and Lee Chung-yong could fire their scoring guns in the Greece match as well. Ki has excellent free kick scoring capabilities and mid-distance shots, while Lee is fast and talented with his feet. Once an opportunity for a goal presents itself, he seldom lets it go by.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]