Midfielder Kim Bo-kyung to wear former captain’s number in Brazil

Cardiff City midfielder Kim Bo-kyung will don former national team captain Park Ji-sung’s number at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, officials said on Monday.

The Korea Football Association revealed the numbers for South Korea’s 23 players at the summer’s big tournament. It said Kim will wear No. 7 in Brazil.

Park had No. 7 on his shirt at the 2006 and the 2010 World Cups. He was the South Korean captain in 2010, as the country reached the round of 16 for the first time at an away World Cup.

After playing his final international match in January 2011, Park picked Kim as his heir apparent. Kim made the 2010 World Cup team at age 20, one of the team’s youngest players, and will be one of the attacking midfielders on this year’s squad.

The crafty midfielder joined Cardiff City in 2012. The club has been relegated from the Premier League to the second-tier Football League Championship for next season.

The KFA said the national team coaches gave players their usual and familiar numbers. While defensive backs often wear single-digit numbers, centerback Hong Jeong-ho will have his usual No. 20 and fullback Kim Jin-su will wear No. 22.

Forward Park Chu-young will have No. 10 for the third straight World Cup. It’s a number usually reserved for a team’s leading striker. The Watford player leads the current South Korea squad with 24 goals in 62 international contests.

Midfielders Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong will wear Nos. 16 and 17, the same as their previous World Cup appearance in 2010.

Son Heung-min, a Bayer Leverkusen attacker who has worn Nos. 7, 8, 11 and 14 in friendlies, will have No. 9 at the World Cup.

Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, returning for his second straight World Cup, will don No. 1 in Brazil. (Yonhap)