Korea travels south to open Asian Cup camp

The South Korean men’s football team traveled south to Jejudo Island to begin a weeklong training camp ahead of a major continental tournament.

Head coach Uli Stielike has put together a squad of 28 players from leagues in South Korea, Japan and China as he prepares for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which will kick off in Australia on Jan. 9.

It will be South Korea’s first international tournament under Stielike, a former German international who took the South Korean reins in October. South Korea last captured the Asian Cup in 1960.

South Korea is expected to feature about a dozen players from European and Middle Eastern leagues. With those players’ seasons still in full swing, Stielike decided to give players from the Asian leagues, whose seasons have already ended, a chance to make an impression.

Stielike has previously said he’s looking beyond the Asian Cup in January and already has the East Asian Cup next July in mind.

Since European or Middle Eastern clubs aren’t obliged to release their players for the East Asian Cup, Stielike will have to rely mostly on those based in South Korea, Japan and China.

When discussing his pre-Asian Cup camp last week, Stielike said the doors remain wide open for hardworking players to make his team, and that he may make a surprise pick or two for the final Asian Cup roster.

After returning from a two-game road trip to the Middle East last month, Stielike had declared he wasn’t going to make any roster choice that would catch people off guard.

The recent change in his stance likely has to do with injuries to two frontline strikers: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ Lee Dong-gook and Ulsan Hyundai’s Kim Shin-wook.

Both are dealing with leg injuries and are doubtful for the Asian Cup. Stielike said last week he was concerned about South Korea’s lack of polish and poise around the net.

Bayer Leverkusen’s dynamo Son Heung-min will have to carry the bulk of the offensive load at the Asian Cup, but he mostly plays on the wings on the second line of attack. Candidates for the striker position, such as Al-Shabab’s Park Chu-young, El Jaish’s Lee Keun-ho and Qatar SC’s Cho Young-cheol, are all in the midst of scoring droughts.

For this week’s camp, Stielike has chosen five forwards, with none of them having played an international match at the senior level.

Chunnam Dragons’ Lee Jong-ho is one of the five. He was the last-minute replacement last Saturday for Pohang Steelers’ Kim Seung-dae, who is dealing with a right hip injury.

Stielike explained that he has named 28 players so that he can have an intrasquad match on the final day of camp next Sunday.

Stielike will announce the Asian Cup squad early next week, according to the Korea Football Association. (Yonhap)