Making progess

South Korea must raise game, warns star player Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) -- Key player Choi Sung-yong believes South Korea still have a lot of work to do to avoid becoming the first host team to fail to qualify for the second stage of a World Cup.

But South Korea are heading in the right direction, according the former LASK Linz midfielder who now plays for Asian club champion Suwon Blue Wings.

"If our team plays better than we are at the moment, I think there's enough of a possibility that well get through," Choi said in a recent interview.

"But if we don't get any better than we are now, I think it'll be impossible."

South Korea and Japan are co-hosting the May 31-June 30 World Cup. So far, no host country has been eliminated before the second stage in 72 years of World Cup history.

The 26-year-old said head coach Guus Hiddink, hired at the end of 2000 with the remit to get South Korea beyond the first round, was having a beneficial effect on the team.

But results, in particular in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States where they lost the third-place play-off to Canada, have not been good enough for a demanding Korean public.

Comparisons are made with the results achieved by Frenchman Philippe Troussier with rival Japan, and Korea's Dutch coach is increasingly coming under pressure in the media.

"Troussier has been with Japan for three years," Choi said. "He's had lots of time to prepare for the World Cup. We've really only got a year-and-a-half."

He said when Troussier first went to Japan he faced difficulties because of the difference between Asian and European approaches to the game.

"Compared to that, in Korea, there's very little," he said.

Excellent form

With 58 caps to his name and in excellent form for Suwon, Choi is destined to play an important role as South Korea takes part in its fifth World Cup.

Despite dominating the Asian game, it has not managed a single win at the finals, but Choi is adamant it must put this behind it.

"The reason we've failed up to now, in 1990, 1994 and 1998, is because we had no confidence," he said, adding players felt they were improving.

"In 2002, we're at home, and the crowds will be mostly Korean people, and they'll cheer a lot, a good coach has come, and the players are bit by bit becoming more confident."

 

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