Yoon Bitgaram shines in Olympic qualifying win over Oman

South Korean midfielder Yoon Bitgaram shined in Korea’s 2-0 win over Oman to start the final round of Asian qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympics on Wednesday.

Yoon was sharp and hungry, highlighting the depth of talent manger Hong Myung-bo can call upon. The 21-year-old scored and was involved in another goal with a brilliant bit of skill.

Playing at the Changwon Football Center, the home of his club Gyeongnam FC, Yoon was deployed in midfield. He started the game slowly in the opening minutes, but soon became Korea’s main threat.

The highlight of his performance came 23 minutes into the first half. Yoon was brought down just outside of the box on the left, and he superbly curled the resulting free kick into the top corner.

Korea’s second goal in the second half also came from the quick feet of Yoon. He stole the ball from the defender in the center circle before penetrating into the box, and then sending the ball inside to unmarked Kim Bo-kyung. The substitute Kim fired a powerful low shot past the goalkeeper into the net.

On Wednesday, the Korea U23 team manager Hong praised his players after the game noting that: “All the players worked hard from the start to finish.”

The 42-year-old manager, however, revealed his concerns over the upcoming qualifier games, admitting that his team needs to be more aggressive and learn to finish the ball better.

“We were a bit slow in the first half, and missed a couple of chances. We should have scored more goals today,” he said.

Hong knows that his team has a tough road ahead to London. The Korea U23 team faces Qatar next in the first of their three away games in the Gulf on Nov. 23. Then they play Saudi Arabia on Nov. 27 at home.

In the final qualifying round, there are three groups of four teams, and the teams play each other in a home-and-away league format from September until March 2012.

Asia has 3.5 tickets for the London Olympics. The winners of the three groups will automatically qualify for the Olympic Games. Then, three runners-up will clash in a play-off in March, and the winner will meet the fourth-best team from Africa for a berth in London.

Korea is trying to reach its seventh straight Olympics, and make its ninth overall appearance at the quadrennial competition.

But manager Hong said earlier that he felt a lot of pressure preparing for the London Olympic qualifiers.

Some of his key players, including midfielder Yoon and defender Hong Jeong-ho, also play for the senior national team.

In November, the national team is also scheduled to play against UAE and Lebanon in qualification for the 2014 World Cup, which makes it difficult for them to concentrate on the Olympic qualifiers.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)