Korea looks ahead to Kuwait

Park Chu-young aims to keep up his strong play


It is halftime in South Korea’s two-game opening gambit in its bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and the players couldn’t be feeling better. Well, they are sure to be a little jetlagged after playing 90 minutes against Lebanon and then flying to the opposite side of Asia ready for a match with Kuwait on Tuesday (2 a.m. Wednesday Korean time), but that was to be expected.

What was less predictable was the 6-0 thrashing that the Taeguk Warriors handed out to Lebanon. The three points came as no surprise, the one-sidedness of the match did. Those three points lifted Korea on top of Group B after just one game. Kuwait is in second after defeating UAE 3-2. Only the top two from the group progress to the final round of qualification.

Coach Cho Kwang-rae was eager to point out that it marked a return to form for a team that had lost 3-0 to Japan just three weeks earlier. “We played like our old selves,” said Cho. “There were a lot of positives from the match but there is a long way to go. Kuwait is a better team technically than Lebanon and we now have to focus on that match and try to collect the points.”

Park Chu-young was on the pitch during that loss in Sapporo ― according to the records, if not the memory. He was much less anonymous on Friday. All eyes were on the one-time FC Seoul striker as he had just become an Arsenal player. It is a trick that coach Cho should bear in mind. If he wants one of his players to produce the goods then perhaps the best way is to arrange a move to one of Europe’s big clubs.

The striker put in an excellent performance, scoring half of the six and three of the first four before he was substituted. He earned a standing ovation from the 40,000 fans at Goyang Stadium. The 26-year-old volleyed the first after eight minutes, headed the second just before half-time and fired home the fourth midway through the second half to end the game as a contest. Full of confidence and movement, this was a player who was enjoying himself.

Fellow striker Ji Dong-won helped himself to two goals. The 20-year-old is also a Premier League freshman and has yet to start a game for new club Sunderland. If he keeps his scoring record up for his country ― it is now eight goals in 11 games ― he could be an automatic inclusion on the national team for some years to come.

Cho will have to keep his team’s feet on the ground when jetting through the skies of Asia. It was expected that of the six matches, playing Lebanon at home would be the easiest of all.

The next test may sound pleasant as it is takes place at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Kuwait City. Park has happy memories of that arena. It was there, in June 2005, he played his second ever international game for his country and it was there that he scored his second ever international goal. It was a good night for Korea as the team won 4-0 to clinch a place at the 2006 World Cup.

This Kuwaiti team is stronger than that one. The Blues, a serious a power on the continent in the seventies and eighties, are also feeling good after winning 3-2 at the home of the United Arab Emirates in a game that wasn’t as close as the result suggests.

“I am satisfied with the result,” Kuwait’s coach Goran Tufegdzic said. “We played a team whose players play in a professional league in the UAE and one that is very, very strong. Overall we had more chances to score and we created a lot, but that lapse in concentration in the last five minutes allowed them to score.”

The Serbian added that the win had given his team confidence for the match with South Korea but admitted, “Korea will be a tough test for us and now we have to think about that.”

Bader Al Mutwa is still around and the skillful striker is still one of the best in West Asia, causing all kinds of problems for the UAE defense on Friday. “We are pleased with the win,” he said after the game. “Now though, we must go home and prepare for South Korea. Korea is one of the strongest in Asia and we have to play to the best of our ability.”

If Korea can do so, getting three points is certainly possible especially if Park Chu-young can maintain the same kind of form.

By John Duerden, Contributing writer 
(johnduerden@hotmail.com)