Lee Eul-yong off the Roster against Maldives

Does Turkish warrior Lee Eul-yong (29) of Trabzonspor have some friction with Johannes Bonfrere, the head coach of the Korea’s national soccer team?

Bonfrere excluded Lee from the roster for the game against Maldives, which will take place at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul on November 17, the decisive final game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying round in the Asian Zone. This is even more unusual when considering the fact that Bonfrere decided to mobilize all players playing in foreign leagues for this pivotal match which determines whether Korea can advance to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Why did Bonfrere leave Lee off the roster? Lee was the key member of the World Cup team that made it to the semifinals in the 2002 World Cup. Moreover, Lee is in good condition, without injuries, recording five assists in Turkey’s Super League.

Huh Chung-moo, coach of the national soccer team, said that Bonfrere appears not to like the playing style of Lee. Lee is good at passing and kicks with precision, however, he lacks a fighting spirit.

However, Lee’s agent said that some of the mistakes that Lee has made in the practice games before the match against Lebanon last month may have disappointed the head coach.

Lee committed an error in a practice game against the professional football team in the United Arab Emirate (UAE). His back pass was intercepted by the opponent, which led to an immediate goal for UAE. Because of this, Lee did not even have his name listed on the reserve list. At that time, Bonfrere inserted Lee Min-sung (Pohang) and Kim Du-hyun (Suwon) instead of Lee Eul-yong, and when Kim Doo-hyun was pulled out after being injured 30 minutes into the game, he put Kim Jung-woo (Ulsan) into the game.

The players playing abroad added to the roster against Maldives are: Lee Young-pyo, Park Ji-sung (PSV Eindhoven), Lee Chun-soo (Numancia), Song Chong-gug (Feyenoord), Seol Ki-hyeon (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ahn Jung-hwan, Yoo Sang-chul (Yokohama), and Cho Jae-jin (Shimizu).

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com