South Korea will aim to collect two wins and a draw to win their group at the 2016 Olympic men's football tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, head coach Shin Tae-yong said on Wednesday.
The 16 qualified nations have been divided into four groups of four and the top two nations from each group will qualify for the knockout stage. South Korea are paired with Mexico, Fiji and Germany in Group C.
If they reach the quarterfinals, South Korea will face a team from Group D where Argentina, Portugal, Algeria and Honduras are placed. Shin said he expects the two-time Olympic champions Argentina to win that group and he will try to coach South Korea to first place in Group C to avoid the South American nation. The Group C winner will take on the Group D runner-up.
"We should collect at least two wins and a draw in order to avoid Argentina in the quarterfinals," Shin said at Incheon International Airport after arriving from Brazil. He attended the group draw ceremony and inspected football venues there last week.
"We must beat Fiji in the first match and put our best efforts forward against Germany to get a good result, whether it is a win or a draw," Shin added.
Shin said the draw is not bad for South Korea, but he was concerned about Germany, picking the European nation as the possible gold medal contender along with Brazil and Argentina.
Shin said, however, he is confident against Mexico, the defending Olympic champions. South Korea had a scoreless draw against Mexico in the group stage at the 2012 London Summer Games and eventually went on to win the bronze, their first-ever medal in Olympic football.
"South Korea have played against Mexico many times, including tournaments like FIFA World Cup," he said. "If we can show our unique South Korean mentality, I think we can play at the same level as Mexico."
In Brazil, South Korea will first face Fiji at Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador on Aug. 4 before taking on Germany three days later at the same venue. South Korea will then travel to Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia for the final group match against Mexico on Aug. 10.
Shin said he found no problems with football stadiums for South Korea.
"Salvador has good weather and I felt it was a little cold in Brasilia at this moment," he said. "We should now think about the location of our base camp."
The Olympic tournament is open to players under 23, though countries are each allowed to select up to three older players as "wild cards" on their 18-man roster. Coach Shin has said one of the wild cards will be Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min, and he will select the other two after having discussions with the senior national football team coach Uli Stilike and the Korea Football Association technical committee chief Lee Yong-soo.
Although Son is barely playing with his English Premier League club, Shin said he's not concerned about the 23-year-old forward.
"Son is a player with lots of talents," he said. "I think he will display his explosiveness on the pitch once he is assimilated into our team."
The coach said he will call up all available players for possible friendly matches in June, and that he will talk with the KFA to determine whether the players will be gathered at home or overseas. (Yonhap)
