Only once in their World Cup history have South Korea made it to the last 16, and that was when they co-hosted the tournament with Japan, their neighbours, in 2002. But it is evidence of their progression in world football - they progressed to the semi-finals in 2002 - that Ji-sung Park, their captain, is aiming beyond the group stages. Park, the Manchester United midfielder, leads his country into their opening Group B match with Greece at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth this afternoon knowing it will be a tough task, with Argentina and Nigeria their other opponents.
However, that is exactly the 29-year-old's aim as he and his teammates attempt to rekindle memories of eight years ago. Park said: "It is the first World Cup in Africa and we hope it will be the first round of 16 we will have reached away from Korea. My objective for this World Cup is that round of 16. I am not thinking of anything else but that." Jung-moo Huh, the South Korea coach, was a technical advisor to Dutchman Guus Hiddink for what proved to be something of a magic carpet ride all the way to the semi-finals back in 2002. He has been working on combating Greece's height advantage. Otto Rehhagel's team's height at set pieces was a key to their surprise 2004 European Championship title, but Huh said that he is not overly concerned.
"If height were the main factor, we would have to have all basketball players," Huh said. "We are fully prepared." The veteran Rehhagel sounded like he was enjoying a South African safari when he warned that "big cats" could be lurking when his team faces South Korea. The 71-year-old German said today's opponents were fast, determined and tactically astute and told his players that Korean panthers would pounce if their concentration lapsed.
"In 1962 I travelled through Asia and played local teams and won 6-0, 7-0 and even more. That was long ago and since then the Asian teams have caught up massively," Rehhagel said. "They have wonderful ways to move and we really can't imitate that as Europeans. They run like panthers - they're like big cats. They're very clever when it comes to tactics, they know what football's all about. "I've told my guys that if you think for a fraction of a second that you can afford not to pay attention, you'll be badly sanctioned."
* Reuters
