 Manager Cho Kwang-rae, left, observes striker Park Chu-young’s movement during a training session Wednesday at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. / Yonhap |
By Yoon Chul
Korean football team manager Cho Kwang-rae has been impressed with his strikers ahead of today’s friendly against Poland at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Park Chu-young of Arsenal, Ji Dong-won of Sunderland and Lee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk Motors all showed the national team boss what they are capable of in training.
“All three forwards are looking really good. I have a good mind to start all of them,” Cho said.
Lee, who received his first international call-up in 15 months, has improved his ability to score from close range and Park and Ji put in good crosses for the veteran Jeonbuk striker during practice.
Cho also revealed that Son Heung-min of Hamburg SV would play wide rather than moving into the center.
“He (Son) is good on the wing. He has quick movement and the ability to score.”
The 57-year-old manager favors aggressive passing and constantly pressing the opposition. He is considering two from Lee Yong-rae of Suwon BlueWings, Wolfsburg’s Koo Ja-cheol, Celtic’s Ki Sung-yueng and Yoon Bit-garam of Gyeongnam FC as his central midfielders.
“They need to have a good touch as well as the ability to play the short game to create chances for the forwards,” Cho said.
Korea has fewer options in defense. Cho will start with either Kim Young-kwon and Choi Hyo-jin or Hong Chul and Lee Jae-sung as his full backs but could switch to the other pairing if his first choice struggles.
Korea will be looking to find the best combination and avoid injuries in the friendly as just four days later the team hosts the United Arab Emirates in Suwon in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
Before the Poland game the Olympic side led by legendary Korean defender Hong Myung-bo will play a friendly against Uzbekistan at 5:30 p.m. at the same venue.
The Olympic team is in the final qualifying stage for the London 2012 Olympics. It is grouped with Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia in Group B and only the first-place nation will secure an automatic berth to the London Games.
In its only game so far Korea beat Oman 2-0 at home.
