Scouting South Korea

South Korea won the stage three group in the Asian qualifying rounds, finishing in second place behind Iran in stage four to qualify for the World Cup. They only just made it to Brazil, with a string of below-par performances, including a 1-1 draw away to Lebanon and a 1-0 home defeat to Iran. Head coach Choi Kang-Hee took responsibility for the team’s poor performance and resigned following the loss to Iran in the last match of qualification. He was replaced by former player Hong Myung-Bo, who had captained the 2002 World Cup team and coached the under-23 team to a third-place finish at the 2012 Olympics.

Likely Line-up

The Koreans should set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation

Kim Seung-Kyu

Lee Yong/Heong Jeong-Ho/Kim Young-Kwon/Park Joo-Ho

Ki Sung-Yeung/Ko Myung-Jin

Lee Chung-Yeong/Son Heung-Min/Yoon Il-Rok

Kim Shin-Wook

The Prospects

From what I have seen of South Korea in the past year, they normally employ an energetic, efficient and hardworking ethic. This may have helped them reach the dizzy heights of the semis in 2002 in front of a home crowd, but away from home it is a different matter, where they often struggle due to the physicality of other teams. Up front, South Korea have been rather toothless in qualifying, never managing to score more than twice against supposedly weaker opposition.

Needless to say, South Korea will feel they have achieved something if they manage to qualify ahead of Belgium, Russia and even perhaps Algeria for the second round. An early exit beckons.

Ones to Watch

Son Heung-Min

Potentially South Korea’s game changer, attacking midfielder Son Heung-Min is ready to prove himself at the World Cup after making his name in the Bundesliga.

Transferred to Bayer Leverkusen last July for $14 million after three seasons at Hamburg, 21-year-old Son has not been consistently excellent for his new team but when he has played well, he’s played very well.

Son likes to use his pace to sprint past defenders from deep and then shoot from distance. He tends to score in streaks. And if he can get into the groove in Brazil, may prove a potential bargain Fantasy-wise.

He hasn’t always had his chance to prove himself for the national team, yet has started to find his form under coach Hong Myong-Bo.

Ki Sung-Yeung

Sunderland and Swansea supporters need no introduction to playmaker Ki Sung-Yeung who should recover in time from his injury to make it into the Korean side. He is still only 25, but with 56 international appearances, Ki is approaching his peak and has shown glimpses of his talent this season on loan at the Black Cats.

The issue for South Korea coach Hong Myong-Bo is whether to keep Ki deep, where he is a valuable outlet for defenders, or push him up the field where his passing can unlock back-lines.

Park Chu-Young

Arsenal fans might not even know he plays for them, but before his move to the Gunners, Park Chu-Young  was one of Asia’s top strikers.

His call-up was somewhat of a surprise due to his game-time, yet it is a sign of a lack of options up front for the Koreans. Introduced back into the team, Park scored a fierce half-volley against Greece in March. Park generally leads the line well for Korea and links up with the team’s talented attackers.