Opinion

Perfect Korea present a big barrier between Olyroos and Olympics

Australia coach Graham Arnold has talked throughout the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship of the need for his team to step up to the next level.

Korea Republic

Korea Republic players celebrate a goal at the AFC U-23 Championship Source: Twitter

The time for talk is over as the Olyroos face their biggest test so far against Korea Republic in Thursday’s (AEDT) semi-final.

The winner not only goes to the final but earns a ticket to the 2020 Olympics. It is not all over for the loser, however, with third-place also sealing a spot in Tokyo.

Korea is the only team to win every game in Thailand and has been perhaps the best performer at the 16-team tournament so far, even if fellow semi-finalists Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia would have something to say about that. 

Quick, experienced, talented and with a motivation that surpasses all others, Korea has its sights set on a ninth successive appearance at the Olympics, a run that started in Seoul in 1988.

It is almost unthinkable in the city that the team will miss out on an event that is seen as a very big deal, second only to the FIFA World Cup in terms of importance.

Not only that, these players know that if they go to Tokyo and manage to get a medal (as the 2012 team did in London) then they will be exempted from 21 months of military service.

It can make a huge difference in their careers. For some, it will be a last chance.

Motivation then is not an issue. Fortunately, there is plenty of talent to go with it.

Lee Dong-gyeong’s marvelous 95th-minute free-kick, the latest in a series of spectacular strikes, gave Korea a 2-1 win over a physical Jordan team in the quarter-final, though it was a game that the East Asians should have put to bed long before.

In fact, while all four games were won by a single goal, the performances - apart from the laboured opening victory over China - were better than the scorelines suggest.

The Ulsan Hyundai midfielder is the only one to have made his senior debut but there is a lot of professional experience.

Authorities in Korea have developed policies to ensure that young talent get regular time on the pitch and almost all of the 20 domestic-based players have solid K League minutes under their belts.

All teams must include two U-22 players in their matchday squads, with one starting.

Such experience stood the team in good stead in a tough group with wins over China, Iran and the defending champions Uzbekistan.

The team have become increasingly fluid in attack despite the fact that coach Kim Hak-bum has rotated.

The extra day’s rest that Australia enjoy may not be as big a factor as some may think.

Only goalkeeper Song Bum-keun has started every game so far and the boss has made a minimum of six changes in every game.

Kim has said that he has full faith in all of his players. The squad is a strong one and means that only the coach knows who is going to take the field against Australia.

Strikers Cho Kyu-song and Oh Se-hun, seen as the main forward before the tournament started, have taken turns to start and have both made contributions with two goals each.

Maeng Sung-ung has been pulling the strings in midfield and was subbed off at half-time on Sunday.

There are issues at the back however with Jordan finding too much space through the middle in the second half and being allowed to cause more problems than they should have.

There is still work to do then but Kim is an experienced coach.

The 59-year-old led Seongnam FC to the 2006 K League 1 title (and to the top of the standings the year after, though Seongnam lost the play-off final) and almost to the 2007 AFC Champions League if not for an epic semi-final defeat to Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan.

Nicknamed ‘Hakbumson’ due to the fact that Seongnam were (briefly) as dominant as Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, Kim is respected as a strategic minded coach, always studying the game, and always ready to change things around.

It was expected at one time that he would take charge of the senior team. Perhaps he still could if all goes well over the next few days.


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4 min read
Published 20 January 2020 6:37pm
By John Duerden

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