PAJU (Yonhap News) ― As his squad prepares to face China in the ongoing East Asian Cup tournament, South Korean head coach Hong Myung-bo on Tuesday stressed the importance of players’ movement without the ball on offense.
Korea played Australia to a scoreless draw to open the regional competition on Saturday. South Korea had 21 shots on net and was in complete control from start to finish, but it failed to find the back of the net.
Hong told reporters that he discovered the reason behind the team’s failure to score against Australia.
“I wasn’t happy with our players’ movement inside the penalty area (in the opposing zone),” Hong said. “Players who were stationary in the box couldn’t create space, and that allowed the defenders to fend off our chances easily.”
Hong said things will be different against China, adding that “players are doing their best to try to address their lack of finishing touch on offense.”
China entered the competition as the heavy underdog, but it pulled out a dramatic 3-3 draw against Japan on Sunday, scoring two goals in the last 15 minutes of the match.
Korea and Japan are missing some Europe-based stars, since the East Asian Cup matches are not FIFA-protected and European clubs aren’t obliged to send their international players for this event.
China, on the other hand, has few players overseas anyway and has built a roster of its top players from the domestic Chinese Super League.
Korea has lost to China just once in 26 head-to-head meetings, with 16 wins and nine draws, according to the FIFA database.
