Attack by Choi, Defense by Yoo

What kind of soccer would Coelho show to us? Coelho will have his debut as South Koran national team coach today in a friendly match between South Korea and Columbia in Busan. The blueprint for the future "South Korean soccer" will come out in that game.

What are the key elements of the "Coelho soccer"? And what are the differences between Coelho and Hiddink in strategies? In the following, brief answers to those questions will be made.

▽Three-men defense v. four-men defense = Coelho promises to use the 4-2-3-1 formation. In other words, he will put four players in the defense line. On the other hand, Guus Hiddink tried various formations like 4-4-2, 3-5-2 and 4-3-3. Then, he settled with 3-4-3. But the four-men defense system is still at a clinical stage. The defense line would probably be filled up with, from the left, Lee Young-pyo, Kim Tae-young, Shim Jae-won and Choi sung-yong. Instead of Shim, Lee Min-sung was originally expected to play in. But he is not in top conditions.

▽Then, who would lead the attack? = Who will take place of the retired striker Hwang Sun-hong? Three men are competing for that position: Choi Yong-soo, Woo Sung-yong who has recently become the national team member, and Lee Dong-kook. But most promising is Choi, who recorded the season first goal in the J League, and demonstrated excellent performance in the 27th and 28th training games. When Choi shook the net with fantastic shooting and heading in the training games, Coelho gave his thumbs-up.

▽Hong Myung-bo`s position to be taken by Yoo Sang-chul = Now, Yoo Sang-chul is the "big brother" in the team. Coelho has shown his "solid" confidence in Yoo. For example, he gave the captain position to Yoo. Coelho is likely to put Yoo, who can "consume" various positions like striker, defender and midfielder, at the core of the defense line. Yoo, thus, is expected to lead the defense and assist the midfield. With Yoo taking the role as a defender and midfielder, Coelho wishes to cut off the attack drive by the opponent at its earlier stage, and, thereby, relieve the burden on the defense line absent of Hong Myong-bo, if possible, laying the grounds for surprise attacks.

▽Style of Coelho = Coelho is concentrating on the "fine lines," while his predecessor Hiddink led the team with his powerful charisma. In a set play training, which took place yesterday, Coelho taught players how to make different shootings at a particular point. Even when warming up, players were asked to perform sophisticated techniques such as dashing ahead with the ball being lifted, and dribbling side to side.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com