Korea arrive in Brazilian capital for final group match in men's football

With an eye on their second consecutive Olympic knockout berth, Korea arrived in Brasilia on Monday for their final group match at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

Korea will face Mexico at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, some 1,200 kilometers northwest of Rio. Korea lead Group C with four points, after beating Fiji 8-0 last Thursday and having a 3-3 draw with Germany on Sunday.

Mexico, the 2012 Olympic champions, also have four points, but Korea hold the tiebreak edge in goal difference, plus-8 to plus-4.

Korea will advance to the quarterfinals with a victory over Mexico. Even with a draw, they will finish no worse than second in the group and still reach the quarters.

Korea would have booked a quarterfinals berth if they'd beaten Germany on Sunday. Korea took a 3-2 lead in the 86th minute but Germany equalized in the dying moments for a hard-fought draw.

After the draw, Korean head coach Shin Tae-yong said he wouldn't try to settle for a draw against Mexico and he wanted to advance to the quarters with a victory.

At a press conference at Mane Garrincha Stadium, Shin said Mexico, not his team, will be the one with its back against the wall.

"We'll try to lure Mexico into rushing things on the field," the coach said. "I am convinced that our offense will manage to score goals. If we can play solid defense, I think we can at least manage a draw."

Shin said football commentators would be divided into two schools on Korea's tactics against Mexico: some may argue Korea should sit back and play a conservative match, while others may counter that Korea may end up conceding goals if they play too passively.

"I am going to stick with what I think," Shin said, without elaborating further. "I have a couple of ideas and I am going to spend the next two days going over them."

Defensive back Choi Kyu-baek, who required 10 stitches to his forehead after a collision with a German player, traveled with the team. He remains questionable for Wednesday.

Shin said Choi wants to play against Mexico because it's an important match, but he'd rather protect his player.

Mexico also have injury concerns of their own.

The Mexican Football Federation said striker Oribe Peralta and defender Rodolfo Pizarro have left the Rio Games with a broken nose and a broken leg, respectively.

Both players suffered their injuries during Mexico's 5-1 win over Fiji Sunday. They each scored a goal in the 2-2 draw against Germany last week.

Carlos Fierro and Raul Lopez will replace them.

Shin said the absence of the two players must not affect Korea's approach.

"They're the defending champions and replacing a couple of players won't weaken them so easily," he said. "We can't afford to take them lightly. We have to execute everything we've prepared." (Yonhap)