Filling Hiddink's shoes

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek didn't quite measure up to his illustrious predecessor in charge of South Korea. On Wednesday night, Verbeek retried Guus Hiddink's shoes on for size as Australia mounted their maiden World Cup qualifying campaign through the AFC.

If Verbeek's 3-0 victory over Qatar wasn't quite enough to prove the bulk of his doubters wrong, it must have gone mighty close.

There will still be those - the cynics who harboured a personal preference of the shining CV of Omar (formally Philippe) Troussier over Hiddink's countryman and former assistant - who might remain unconvinced.

Let's see how Verbeek's inevitably jetlagged Socceroos handle the altitude of southwestern city Kunming in their first AFC qualifier overseas against China next month, they might remark.

But most of the 50,000-plus clad in the green and gold at the Telstra Dome in midweek, not to mention a host of interested TV viewers, will be jointly relieved and excited by a ruthless first-half display which saw the outgunned Qataris put to the sword in the opening 33 minutes.

The first test of the unheralded Verbeek was always going to be his wider influence in the boardrooms of Europe's grandest.

His sway over the often reluctant full-time employers of Tim Cahill and the like increased in magnitude when the Dutchman, in what has already become typical of his forthright style, discarded virtually every one of his original A-League contingent, labelling them not up to international standards.

Only Queensland's Craig Moore made Verbeek's first starting XI, excelling alongside captain Lucas Neill in central defence. Although whether the former skipper and 2006 World Cup goalscorer is truly considered a member of the A-League gang is doubtful.

In any case, Moore, 32, pulled the pin on his national team career immediately after the match.

Verbeek also showed his ruthless streak in quietly electing not to call-up Harry Kewell - to surprisingly little fanfare - and then axing Norway-based defender Michael Thwaite after he'd already completed the arduous trip home.

"I have better players in his position," was the coach's blunt assessment. "That’s the only reason. Michael did well at training and I really appreciated that he took the time and energy to come here but I have better players in his position. That’s football."

It would take a narrow-minded individual not to spot Verbeek gently asserting his control over a notoriously big-headed bunch.

Another absentee was Mark Viduka. The Newcastle United frontman played against Middlesbrough in the Premier League the Sunday previous with Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer proving the flight home possible by doing it himself.

However, while Viduka's self-imposed international exile continues, Verbeek is not prepared to give up on him without a fight.

The Dutchman made a public play for Viduka's future services in the wrap up of the Qatar victory and said he would fly to the north east in person to share a coffee and a chinwag.

"Mark is always on the list," Verbeek clearly stated. "I would prefer to have five strikers to choose from and it's always better that players have a headache over fighting for their position than coaches have a headache."

Viduka might be on his shortlist, but at 33 this year and with first team football under Kevin Keegan at Newcastle no certainty, Verbeek needed to trial Plan B and stylishly did so in Melbourne, Viduka's hometown.

After toying with the idea of playing just one up front, he paired long-haired Karlsruher SC targetman Josh Kennedy with Scott McDonald, the stocky Celtic forward who hasn't stopped scoring in the SPL since moving to Glasgow in the off season.

Kennedy headed the opener from Brett Emerton's whipped delivery while McDonald was a menace all night, supplying the low centre which Cahill dummied for Mark Bresciano to tuck away for the clincher.

PSV's Jason Culina, in a holding midfield role, also received plaudits after the game, as did revitalised left-footer David Carney, now at Sheffield United in England's second tier.

Kennedy and McDonald aside, the names weren't actually that different from the failed Asian Cup campaign last July. But the attitude was.

However, with just one full training session to work with a group he'd mostly never before met, the nagging feeling about Verbeek's influence hasn't instantly gone away.

The March 26 game in China is another non FIFA-designated matchday which means Verbeek will have a similarly limited time with his players to prepare.

But at least for the next month or so he has, as Hiddink did before, Australia's goodwill behind him.

Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com

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Just 51 Ten Minutes

Not too long ago, sexy Korean pop sensation Lee Hyo-ri famously sang “just one ten minutes”. The sultry songstress suggested that she could score with any man within that period of time. After Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Chile, South Korea’s footballers would have to sing "just 51 ten minutes" as the national team’s scoring drought stretches to almost biblical proportions.

Lee’s song was probably top of the charts when the Taeguk Warriors last hit the back of the net. While 90,000 Indonesians were present when Kim Jung-woo scored in Jakarta last July, there was only a select group of Korean witnesses. Soon, they could be sporting t-shirts that read “I saw Korea score.”



It won’t be t-shirt weather on Wednesday night when Turkmenistan comes to Seoul for the hosts’ first game of the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign. It certainly wasn’t last week either when Chile coolly won 1-0 at a three-quarters empty Seoul World Cup Stadium in Huh Jung-moo’s first game back as coach. A young and inexperienced team, freezing weather and Korea's Olympic handball play-off with Japan had contrived to keep the fans away.



The exhibition display, described as ‘toothless’ by most TV news stations, did little to warm those present . After 506 minutes of goalless football, there is little to be happy about as a Korean fan though Huh has promised a better performance on Wednesday.



He could be right as Park Ji-sung, one of the few Koreans more famous than the ubiquitous Lee Hyo-ri, returns home to take control of the situation. Park was absent from the Asian Cup through injury, as was Tottenham’s Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon of Fulham, but now all three are fully fit and ready to go. There should be a full house despite the fact that Seoul almost empties during festivities that celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Despite the lack of action in front of goal, the consolation is that Korea still managed to finish third at the Asian Cup and that the real action starts now. Failure to defeat a fairly physical, but rather limited, Turkmenistan team (ranked 128 in the world by FIFA, Korea are 41st) would put real pressure not only on the team but also the coach.



At this moment, few care if the next goal comes from a Christiano Ronaldo-style super shot or if it hits the backside of captain Kim Nam-il and rolls over the line. Three points are what is needed if the Year of the Mouse is to start on a positive note.

Also positive is the fact that the other two teams in the group are hardly Asia’s finest. It could have been much worse for Korea. Australia was drawn with China, Asian champions Iraq and Asian Games winners Qatar. Korea has, as well as the Turkmen, only North Korea and Jordan to worry about.

After Wednesday night, the next game in the group, from which the top two progress to the final round of qualification, sees South Korea make the short trip to Pyongyang in March. That will certainly be an interesting trip both in football, and other, terms. It will be a much more comfortable trip for the Taeguk Warriors if they have three points under their belt.



Whether that happens or not depends on Wednesday. Three years ago in the middle of the Lunar New Year holiday, Korea faced Kuwait in Seoul in another World Cup qualifier. Lee Young-pyo got the ball rolling that night, another sub-zero encounter, before a spectacular volley from Lee Dong-gook settled the encounter.

The latter Lee is still banned from the national team after late-night drinking sessions at the Asian Cup but even he may raise a glass back in England if Korea’s first steps on the road to South Africa in 2010 turn out to be firm and steady.

Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile


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Korea Closing In On New Man

It has become an almost annual event, one which is loved by journalists all over South Korea- trying to guess the identity of the next national team coach.

No official candidates have been announced by the Korean Football Association (KFA) as yet. The task of hiring and firing belongs to the body's Technical Committee. It has been busy with many meetings over the last month.

Since the resignation of Pim Verbeek at the end of the 2007 Asian Cup in July, the ten men on the committee have been fairly casual about getting a new man in place but pressure is mounting. The start of qualification for the 2010 World Cup starts in February and the next coach should be firmly settled in place by then.

One thing is for sure, he will be foreign. That issue was settled fairly quickly despite a debate of some ferocity that raged for a time in soccer circles. Much of the media wanted an import while, perhaps unsurprisingly, Korean coaches argued that it was time for a Korean coach to be given the job.

The local leaders lost and, like the rest of us, will have to wait to find out the identity of the next foreigner – a sixth in as many years. Some writers can’t wait that long, preferring to keep close tabs on KFA house, its fax machines, printers, copiers and even garbage in attempts to reveal the identity.

Supposed contenders range from former Liverpool, Lyon and France boss Gerard Houllier, the English ex-coach of Ireland Mick McCarthy and the current coach of Denmark Morten Olsen.

Houllier is perhaps top of the list and is available – kind of. Since resigning after leading Lyon to the French title last season, the 60 year-old has been taking a break. Despite recently becoming a technical advisor to the French Football Association, Houllier has let it become known that he is interested in the right national team job.

It remains to be seen if South Korea fits the bill. Houllier has close ties with Football Federation Australia, also looking for a new coach. Ireland is also known to be ready to talk.

Competition to find the right person is fierce. Three of Korea’s Asian rivals are also on the lookout. Iran is ready to spend big and was last week turned down by ex-Brazil boss Vanderlei Luxemburgo and the rather less exotic former Manchester City and Sunderland coach Peter Reid. As well as Australia, Japan is in the market after coach Ivica Osim suffered a serious stroke recently.

People like Houllier come at a price but money is not a problem for the KFA. The body signed a $54 million deal with Nike last month and knows that any failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup would financially far outweigh any savings made my appointing a mediocre man at this stage.

Not only fortune but fate has smiled on South Korea in the form of a favourable draw for the third round of qualifying for the 2010 World cup on Sunday. Finishing in the top two of a group containing North Korea, Jordan and Turkmenistan is well within the team’s capabilities and it will be a major shock if South Korea doesn’t progress to the final round.

By then, the new guy should have really found his feet we just have to wait and see the rest of him.

Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com

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Players Pay For Jakarta High-Jinks

Where to start? The climax of the K-League season has been overshadowed by tales of ‘The four partymen’ –the collective label given to Middlesbrough striker Lee Dong-guk, goalkeeper and captain Lee Woon-jae, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma skipper Kim Sang-sik and Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I forward Woo Sung-young.

It was two days before Halloween when reports started to appear in the Korean press that four players had been out drinking in a hostess bar in Jakarta until the early hours of the morning of July 14. The same four apparently did the same on the evening of July 16. On the 15th, three of them started an Asian Cup game against Bahrain, one which Korea lost 2-1. That defeat left the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists on bottom of Group B with one match remaining.

At that time, there were no players named, just pictures of scantily-clad Indonesian girls talking to Korean reporters and pointing at photos. As you would expect, fans were furiously speculating as to the identity of the four who had reportedly been out until 5 am just 36 hours before a vital game.

Song Chong-guk was a favourite. The ex-Feyenoord star has earned somewhat of a reputation, deservedly or not, as a player who enjoys going out and having a good time. Hunky Japan-based striker Cho Jae-jin was another mentioned. It was the old guard who were out on the town however, and after the defeat at the hands of the West Asians, it looked like Korea were out of the competition.

The Bahrain game was a disaster. Leading 1-0 with an early (sleeper) Kim Do-heon goal, Milan Macala’s team took advantage of defensive slips at the end of each half to record a shock win.

In the mixed zone afterwards, Lee Dong-guk complained of predictable and monotonous tactics. The Middlesbrough striker certainly had a new routine of his own and headed back to the same bar the evening after, in an attempt, in the words of goalkeeper Lee, to ‘boost morale.’

Fortunately for the Taeguk Warriors, Saudi Arabia thrashed Bahrain in the final group game to allow Korea to squeeze into the quarters with a narrow victory over Indonesia. It hasn’t been lost on fans that Lee Woon-jae then went on to become the best goalkeeper in the tournament and it was largely down to the Suwon shotstopper that Korea ousted Iran on spot kicks in Kuala Lumpur - perhaps nightlife in the Malaysian capital doesn’t measure up to its Indonesian counterpart. That was the high point of the summer for Pim Verbeek and players. A semi-final penalty shootout against Iraq brought the opposite result though Lee was at his best again while denying Japan in the third/fourth play-off. It may have been his last appearance.

Verbeek resigned and returned to Rotterdam, Lee Dong-guk went to Middlesbrough and the other three came back to Korea to fight for the K-League title and it all went well until South Korean internet site Newsis started sniffing around an Indonesian hostess bar.

On October 30, a Tuesday, the KFA published an official apology on its website after the four players had been named and definitely shamed by an angry media that was in the mood for blood.

They got tears that same evening when Lee Woon-jae and Woo appeared at KFA house to give a press conference. The players, in between sobs and dabbing of eyes with hankies, apologized and asked for forgiveness. Kim Sang-sik issued a statement containing similar sentiments.



Lee was in action the following night in the penultimate round of the K-League play-off series. “I played through my tears,” he said after Suwon lost to a late single goal at the hands of Pohang Steelers. Suwon’s season was finally over and Pohang progressed to the final against Seongnam.

That night Lee drank again but not, this time, in some exotic bar and this time he was with his wife. At 1:30 am, the hero of 2002 was talking to a Sports Chosun journalist on the telephone. “I can’t sleep,” ol’ spider hands confessed. “I am drinking beer with my wife. Because of one moment of stupidity, I have lost everything.”

In a disciplinary hearing on November 2, Lee, like the three others, lost the right to play for the national team for 12 months. As captain, he was banned from KFA-organised tournaments for three years, one more than his drinking buddies.

Talk hasn’t quite turned back to football yet but Pohang and Seongnam do battle in the two-legged title decider on November 4 and 11.

Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile


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