Football coach Hong Myung-bo eyes London medal

Korea’s Olympic football team manager

Korea’s Olympic football team manager Hong Myung-bo says that an absence of star players from top leagues in the national squad will not stop the team winning a medal at this summer’s London Games.

“I do not place much importance on how we are rated,” Hong said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. “I see the projections about our performance as biased because we have few players in the big leagues.”

Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won, generally used as a substitute last season, may be the only widely recognized name among the Under-23 players when the Korea squad is announced.

“However, it could be to our advantage that they do not know much about the Korean team and players,” he said.

Korea, a nine-time Olympic qualifier, will make its seventh-straight appearance at the Summer Games next month. The side went undefeated in the final six qualifiers, and conceded just two goals.

The national team coach played at four World Cups including a semifinal appearance and won 136 caps for his country before being selected as one of Pele’s 125 greatest living footballers.

Despite the solid performances, Hong’s unheralded men are still seen as underdogs. The best prediction is that they will just move on from the group stage.

“The more important thing is the players’ form and condition in July rather than how famous they are,” said Hong, the Under-23 coach since 2009.

Korea, whose best achievements at the Olympics are two quarterfinal appearances in 1948 and 2004, have been drawn with Mexico, Switzerland and Gabon in Group B. The group is considered relatively favorable, but Hong does not agree.

“We avoided favored Spain and Brazil, but our group can turn into hard-fought contests given that there are no major contenders or minnows in it.”

Hong said that his first goal is to progress from the group phase, but he did not name the opponents Korea had to beat to qualify for the knockout stage.

“Winning all three qualifiers is the best scenario. But rather than studying on who to pick to beat in the first round, we need to work hard on what tactics to use for the remainder of the time ahead of the Olympics,” he said.

If Korea goes beyond the first round, it is set to face qualifiers from Group A that features Britain, Uruguay, Senegal and the United Arab Emirates, which casts a dark cloud over its medal prospects.

But the serious-looking Hong, who became known for his broad smile after scoring the winning penalty in the shootout against Spain in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, was less troubled by the bracket and positive about the possible second-round battle.

“Thereafter, we will be under little pressure and nobody knows what will happen,” he said.

A total of 18 footballers including three overage wild card selections will fly to London.
“I am narrowing down the roster, but as I cannot foresee what will happen to players that I am watching, I have yet to finalize it. I will announce the final squad in early July,” he said. <Korea Times/Kang Seung-woo>

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