Olympic football seed meaningless to South Korea: coach

South Korean Olympic football team head coach Shin Tae-yong said Thursday it is pointless to talk about the country having a second seed at the group draw.

Japanese media have reported that South Korea are placed in the second-seeded pot with Nigeria, Honduras and Iraq for the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to reports, Japan have taken the top seeds along with host Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. 

Sweden, Fiji, Portugal and South Africa are in the third-seeded pot, while Colombia, Algeria, Denmark and Germany have received fourth seeds.

Countries in the same pots will not be paired in the same groups.

Shin insisted it is meaningless to think about the seed, saying that teams at the Rio Games are all strong anyway. The coach, however, said it is still important to check which countries will be drawn into the same group with South Korea. The country will make their eighth consecutive Olympic appearance after a runner-up finish at the Asian qualifying tournament in January.

"Whether we get the second seed or the third seed, all the teams at the Olympics are strong except Fiji," Shin told Yonhap News Agency via phone. "None of them is easy, and so it's difficult to figure out the best group draw scenario."

At the Rio Games, 16 countries will be paired into four groups, selected from each pot. Countries from the same continent will be separated in the group phase, meaning South Korea will not meet Japan. The seeding was based on each team's performances at the last five Olympics.

The group draw of the men's Olympic football is slated for April 14 at Maracana Stadium in Rio, and Shin will also attend the occasion.

The Olympic football tournament is open only to players under 23, but countries can each select three overage players as "wild cards" on their 18-man roster. Shin has already hinted one of the wild cards will be Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min, but has not mentioned the other two, saying he will reveal them after the group draw.

"I will discuss with the senior national football team coach Uli Stilike and the Korea Football Association technical committee chief Lee Yong-soo about the wild card selection after returning from Rio," he said.

But before going to Rio, Shin will head to Germany to check up on some Korean players there.

The 45-year-old coach is scheduled to attend the match between Arminia Bielefeld and Dusseldorf on Saturday to see Arminia Bielefeld's attacking midfielder Ryu Seung-woo. Shin will also watch FSV Frankfurt forward Park In-hyeok in his team's match against Nurnberg two days later.

Next Tuesday, Shin will see the U-19 national football team's match against Germany before attending the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals between Wolfsburg and Real Madrid. Also included on his itinerary is the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals match between Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. 

Shin will then move to Bremen on April 9 to see FC Augsburg taking on Werder Bremen. Augsburg have three South Korean players -- Ji Dong-won, Koo Ja-cheol and Hong Jeong-ho -- on their roster, none of them under 23.

Shin's final destination will be Austria, where he will check out Red Bull Salzburg forward Hwang Hee-chan. The 20-year-old, who was instrumental in South Korea clinching the Olympic ticket at the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship in January, was not called up for the Olympic team's recent friendly matches against Algeria.

"The purpose of my trip is to check whether our players are doing ok in their clubs," he said. "As for Salzburg, I will ask for their cooperation to give Hwang enough rest after the season and release him early for our Olympic team." (Yonhap)