The Hindu : Korea reaches for the stars against U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 10, 2002

Sport

Sport - Football

Korea reaches for the stars against U.S.

Daegu (South Korea) June 9. World Cup co-host South Korea's encounter against political ally yet fierce sporting rival the United States is shaping up to be the father of all football matches.

South Korea, transformed from chaotic to classy under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, secured its first ever World Cup victory in its sixth campaign with a fantastic 2-0 victory over Poland.

The United States, last of the 32 teams at France '98, played with surprising confidence to open up a shock 3-0 lead over Luis Figo-led Portugal and held on grimly to win 3-2.

The two unbeaten teams in Group D face each other in a showdown with pride, prestige and a virtual passport to the second round at stake.

Although South Korea and the United States are allies, the match is being talked about as the 2002 World Cup equivalent of the United States against Iran at France '98 - the so called 'mother of all football matches'.

A victory will put South Korea or the United States within touching distance of the last 16, a cherished goal of the home side and an unexpected destination for the United States.

Both coaches have vowed that their sides will go all out for three points but have conceded that attacking flair may be blunted by tough tackling.

``It would be foolish not to go for the three points but I am expecting a very physical encounter,'' said Hiddink, the coach of Holland at France '98 who is approaching God-like status in Korea.

Hiddink described the team as ``in chaos'' when all the foreign-based players arrived at training camp several months ago but since then he has turned them into an outfit capable of matching the world's best teams.

A pre-World Cup 4-1 thrashing of Scotland, a deserved draw against England and an unlucky 3-2 defeat at the hands of world champions France were harbingers of success.

A tremendous goal by veteran striker Hwang Sun-hong, his 50th for the national team, put South Korea ahead against Poland and the foraging Yoo Sang-chul, one of the few players to emerge with credit from the France '98 debacle, added the second with a fierce long range effort.

Hwang, who has announced he will retire from international football after the World Cup, Yoo, Anderlecht- based Seol Ki-hyeon and captain Hong Myung-bo are playing with new-found vigour.

But it is the relative new faces in the side, the impressive Kim Nam-il who dictated the midfield against Poland, the speedy Song Chong-gug and solid defender Choi Jin-cheul who have been the revelations in the past few months.

Hiddink has plucked them from relative obscurity and turned them into top class performers competing on the game's biggest stage.

Hiddink is expected to combat the aerial threat of the United States by asking Choi to stick closely to U.S. striker Brian McBride whose heading ability brought him a goal against Portugal.

United States coach Bruce Arena is hoping that skipper Claudio Reyna, the Sunderland star who missed the win over Portugal, will be fit to play against South Korea. ``He has been training with the rest of the squad and should be ready,'' he said.

The baking heat during the afternoon game, with temperatures expected to reach 35 degrees celsius, and the huge vocal support for South Korea from the sell-out 65,000 crowd will be big factors.

Do-or-die battle for Portugal

June 10 is Portugal's national day when great deeds from the nation's history are commemorated.

Monday is also the birthday of national coach Antonio Oliviera, when he turns 50.

And it is the day when the Portuguese squad must gird itself to beat Poland in Jeonju or make an embarrassing early exit from the World Cup.

Either way, the match will be some kind of a milestone in Portugal's soccer career.

The Portuguese stumbled at the first hurdle in their opening World Cup group D game against the United States last Wednesday, losing 3-2.

But so did Poland, going down 2-0 against co-host South Korea.

Both sides are playing in their first World Cup since 1986 and both have their backs to the wall, holding out the prospect of a tense encounter in Jeonju.

The Portuguese will take on Poland without Abel Xavier and Paulo Sousa, who are injured.

Xavier, a Liverpool rightback, tore a thigh muscle in training last week and missed the match against the United States.

Portugal's stars, including world player of the year Luis Figo, Costa of AC Milan and Pauleta of Bordeaux, who was top scorer and voted best player in France last season, have won major trophies at club level but have no silverware with the national team.

And many of them are approaching the end of their career, making this probably their last chance for glory on the world stage.

The Poles, too, are smarting from their setback against South Korea.

Poland was considered a favourite to advance to the second round from group D along with the Portuguese.

It was the first European team to qualify — apart from France, which got an automatic spot as defending champion — after topping its group regional qualifying, but since then its form has been patchy.

Its stars are goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, a stand out for Liverpool in the English Premier League, and Nigerian-born striker Emmanuel Olisadebe who made his debut against South Korea last week.

Poland has smelt Portuguese blood after the U.S. game and is unlikely to let the Portuguese settle on Monday.

But the team also has injury worries, as defender Jacek Bak has been ruled out with recurring back problems.

Coach Jerzy Engel will likely move defender Tomasz Hajto from right back to the midfield and add Tomasz Klos to the defensive line.

Belgium not to take chances

In a World Cup where just about anything is possible, Belgium is taking no chances with lowly-rated Tunisia.

The Red Devils will face an opponent whose recent misery was capped with a 2-0 loss to Russia in its Group H opening game. Yet, coach Robert Waseige remains on the alert.

For Tunisia, the game offers a chance for a major World Cup upset that would no doubt help the team forget the worries of the past months.

The Africans lost a coach and their star goalie in the buildup to the tournament and went out of the African Cup on Nations in the first round without scoring a single goal. — AFP, AP

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