Korea set for Oman matchup

South Korea will open the final round of Asian qualification for the 2012 London Olympics against Oman at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Changwon, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

South Korea is in Group A with Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It will travel to Qatar on Nov. 23 and will be back at home against Saudi Arabia on Nov. 27. On Feb. 5, South Korea will take on Saudi Arabia on the road. Then it’s off to Oman on Feb. 22, and the final match will be against Qatar at home on March 14.

Oman is considered the easiest opponent for South Korea. In a friendly in June this year in South Korea, the home team won handily, 3-1.

Only football players 23 or younger are allowed to compete in the Olympics. South Korea also won’t benefit from some up-and-comers, who also play for the senior national team, in the qualifying.

Ji Dong-won of Sunderland in the English Premier League, Ki Sung-yueng of Celtic FC in Scotland and Son Heung-min of German team Hamburger SV are all key members of the senior team, but they will not be joining the U23 squad.

Their respective European clubs aren’t obliged to make their players available in midseason for Olympic qualifications.

Head coach Hong Myung-bo will, however, have other youngsters from the senior squad. From the domestic K-League will be defender Hong Jeong-ho and midfielder Yoon Bit-garam. Players based in Japan, including Kim Bo-kyung of Cerezo Osaka and Cho Young-cheol of Albirex Niigata, will also be with the Olympic team.

In the final stage, there are three groups of four teams, and they will play each other twice in the home-and-away format. Only the top seeds from those groups will secure berths in London. The winner of a three-way playoff among the No. 2 teams will enter an international playoff for the final chance to qualify. 

(Yonhap News)