Park: Asian tide of progress no fluke
Reuters - Friday 25 June 2010, 15:33
PORT ELIZABETH - South Korea's advance to
the knockout rounds of the World Cup should not come as a
surprise given the rapid improvement of the Asian game, captain
Park Ji-sung said on Friday.
Park said his side were capable of beating Uruguay in
Saturday's opening second round match in Port Elizabeth and
their semi-final appearance as hosts in 2002 - their only
previous advance from the group stages - was no fluke.
"We don't have a clear conviction on how far we can go but
we made it to the semi-finals in 2002 and that wasn't just
because we were hosts," he said. "We will go out tomorrow to
prove that."
He praised Asian rivals Japan for their march to the second
round along with the Koreans and said it showed how much the
Asian game had improved. The 46-country region has never had two
teams in the knockout rounds on foreign soil.
The European experience the South Korean players had gained
was the decisive factor in the team's improvement, Park said.
EUROPEAN CONTINGENT
Six members of the squad play in leagues in France, Germany,
England, Scotland and Russia, among others who have returned
home after stints with European clubs.
"Our confidence is all from that experience," he added.
Park has excelled where other Asians have failed in becoming
an important player with English giants Manchester United, whose
players, and manager Alex Ferguson, had kept in regular contact.
"They say they hope I'll play well here," he said. "And they
tell me not get hurt."
South Korea will need to have those players on top form
against a Uruguayan team with a powerful attack and sturdy
defence that has yet to concede a goal. In contrast, the Koreans
have leaked six goals in their last two matches.
"We admit we've let lots of goals in but we can make up for
that by scoring two for every one we concede," said South Korea
coach Huh Jung-moo.
He believes his team fully deserves its place in the
knockout rounds and were determined to go further.
"All of our players are in the top 16 because of hard work
and effort," he said. "We won't rest on our laurels, we want to
make it to the top eight.
"The possibilities are open to everyone, the ball is always
round. Italy, France can always be eliminated and small teams
can always do well."
Follow FFT.com on Twitter
Join FFT.com on Facebook