Midfielder Kim Nam-il, an integral player in South Korea's historic run to the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, is back on the men's national team for the first time in three years.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) on Thursday announced a 25-man roster for South Korea's last three matches in the final Asian qualification round for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Kim, 36, last represented the country at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
South Korea will travel to Beirut to face Lebanon at 8:30 p.m. on June 4 local time, and 2:30 a.m. on June 5 in Korean time. It will host Uzbekistan on June 11 in Seoul and bring Iran to Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, for the finale on June 18.
South Korea is trying to qualify for its eighth straight World Cup and its ninth overall.
Head coach Choi Kang-hee said he was able to look past Kim's age because of his defensive acumen and his ability to create breakaway chances for Incheon United in the first-division K League Classic. Thanks to Kim's all-around prowess, Incheon, once considered a doormat, is in sixth place among 14 K League Classic clubs with four wins, two losses and five draws.
"With Kim, it's not been just a game or two. He has been consistently good for Incheon since the second half of last season," Choi said at a press conference. "When you scout players, you may have different stereotypes, such as their age. But I picked this team based solely on players' current form and their ability to contribute to the national team right away."
Dubbed the Vacuum Cleaner for his defensive skills, Kim has played in 97 international matches. He will try to pick up the slack for two key defensive midfielders ruled ineligible against Lebanon.
Ki Sung-yueng, an all-around midfielder for Swansea City in the English Premier League, picked up two yellows in his previous two games and earned an automatic suspension for the upcoming game.
Park Jong-woo of Busan IPark in the K League Classic has been suspended for two international matches by FIFA for his controversial celebration at the London Olympics, wielding a sign reading, "Dokdo Is Our Territory." The Lebanon match will be the second of the two games for which he's ineligible. FIFA ruled that Park's display of the sign had been political and penalized the player for his "unsporting behavior."
Kim is the oldest member of the team and is the only one who played for South Korea at the 2002 World Cup as the co-host reached the semifinals. Midfielder Lee Myung-joo, the reigning K League Classic Rookie of the Year selected to the national team for the first time, was 12 years old when Kim was shutting down opponent forwards 11 years ago.
Choi said Kim won't have to worry about providing leadership off the field and should let his action do the talking.
"I hope he can help the national team on the field," the head coach said. "I believe he has the experience to do that."
Kim said he will try to put his experience to the best use and help the country qualify for the World Cup.
"I'd be lying if I said I feel as good now physically as I did in the past," he said. "As I got older, though, I've learned to play smarter football."
There are two groups of five countries in the final qualification round, and only the top two teams from each group earn automatic berths in the World Cup.
South Korea has been paired in Group A with Uzbekistan, Iran, Qatar and Lebanon. South Korea is in second place with 10 points, one point behind Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has played six games and South Korea has played five.
Choi said he will most likely stick to the current roster for the duration of the qualification round. Ki, the Swansea City player, has been out of action for nearly a month with an ankle injury, and Choi said the national team can't afford to wait for him to heal and return to game form.
On the other hand, Choi elected to name Park Jong-woo to the team anyway even though he is suspended against Lebanon. The coach explained that Park will train with the squad in preparation for the final two matches and that his presence from the start of the training camp will ensure continuity.
South Korea was also paired with Lebanon in the previous qualification round in 2011. In November that year, Lebanon upset South Korea 2-1 in Beirut, a result that cost then South Korean head coach Cho Kwang-rae his job. It was South Korea's only loss in the third round.
In their previous meeting in June last year, South Korea beat Lebanon 3-0. Choi guarded against any premature optimism, however, saying Lebanon can turn into a stronger team at home.
"On paper, Lebanon may be the weakest team in our group, but we have lost there before," Choi said. "At home, Lebanon is stronger than you'd think. I think they feed off their home crowd and the overall atmosphere at the stadium."
Of the 25 players, 11 play professionally in overseas leagues.
Son Heung-min, a winger for Hamburger SV in the Germany's Bundesliga, has enjoyed perhaps the best season of them all. He is tied for the team lead with 12 goals, ranking him ninth overall in Bundesliga.
Though he hasn't often fit into Choi Kang-hee's offensive schemes, Son did score the last-minute game winner as a second-half substitute in South Korea's 2-1 win over Qatar in the country's last World Cup qualifier.
Choi wouldn't commit to naming Son one of his starters against Lebanon, saying he will try to find the best combination during the training camp. (Yonhap News)
