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| Korean Strikers Vying for Attention |
| K-League play will help determine World Cup lineup |
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John Duerden (internews)  |
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Published 2006-03-29 11:45 (KST) |
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Just before the K-League season started in March, national team coach Dick Advocaat sat in the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul and called for his squad players -- and those hoping to break into that group -- to show their worth for their domestic clubs.
The Dutchman will be pleased to know that his advice/warning appears to have been heeded.
Lee Dong-gook is the choice of many to don the main striker's shirt and has started the new campaign in fine form. In 2005 the player scored just two times for the Pohang Steelers but the "Lion King" has been roaring in the Year of the Dog. After only four games of the fledgling season, he has beaten last year's scoring total. His three goals don't quite tell the whole story, as he has recorded a number of valuable assists in a series of performances that suggest he is determined not to miss out on the World Cup for a second time.
The striker has openly admitted that he is driven partly by missing out on the last World Cup. After finishing the 2000 Asian Cup as top scorer, the 26 year-old was regarded as a shoo-in for the 2002 squad. One of the few that didn't feel that way was the one that really mattered. Guus Hiddink's decision forced Lee to watch on television as his former teammates worked themselves into the national consciousness by reaching the semi-finals. The success earned the players an exemption from Korea's two-year long compulsory military service, which probably didn't make Lee's tour of duty -- which started shortly after the competition ended -- go any faster.
Still having yet to adorn the military's uniform, Park Chu-young has his eyes on the red soccer outfit sported by the Taeguk Warriors, especially the one with the number ten on the back. The Daegu-born phenomenon has yet to display signs of the old "second season syndrome" and has carried on in 2006 where he left off in 2005. The young FC Seoul star finished the regular 2005 K-League season, his first, as the top scorer, and like Lee hit three goals in the opening four games. The normally stony-faced 20 year-old was smiling last weekend, as two of those strikes were witnessed in person by Advocaat.
A day later, the Dutchman made the short hop from Jeju to Busan to watch the second city's football team take on champions Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i. Lee Chun-soo probably did enough in the second half of the 2005 season and on the national team's six week overseas tour at the beginning of 2006 to establish himself as an important member of the team, but in case Advocaat needed a reminder of the winger's talents, he got one in the last minute. Lee, the best dead-ball specialist in South Korea, fired home a magnificent free-kick into the top right corner of Busan's net.
Jo Jae-jin may not play in the K-League, but Advocaat's warning carried across the East Sea to the Japanese city of Shizuoka where "Triple J" earns his wage with local team Shimizu S-Pulse. Jo started the new season in the distant shadow of Mount Fuji in fine form, as his three goals in the opening three games sent S-Pulse to the top of the table. Jo has emerged as one of the top marksmen in the J-League and his aggressive play and skill in the air should be enough to earn a seat on the German-bound plane, if not a place in the starting eleven.
Former club-mate Kim Doo-hyun has impressed in the midfield for early leaders Seongnam Ilwha Chunma and the 23 year-old, who seems to sport a new hairstyle and/or color every time he takes the field, has chipped in with a couple of goals as the moonie-owned team fixes its sights on a magnificent seventh title. Teammate Woo Sung-yong leads the scoring charts with four goals in four games, but the 32 year-old will find it difficult to break into the squad without a helping hand (or boot, as the case may be) from injury.
The activity of these players will not have gone unnoticed in Europe, where rivals for starting places Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, and Cha Du-ri have been conspicuous by their absence in their respective home stadiums of MSV Duisberg, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Advocaat has professed his frustration at traveling to Europe only to see the backs of his players' heads as they sit on the bench. These stars of 2002 are caught in the worst of both worlds: not playing for their European teams but also missing out on the exposure that their K-League counterparts are getting twice a week under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff.
Time is running out, but as the final squads don't have to be announced until May 15, there are a few weeks left for a dream or two to be made -- or shattered.
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©2006 OhmyNews
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