Coach: Team Korea Slots Up for Grabs

Competition without questioning one’s rank of position has a large effect on one’s competitors. Especially in sports, this brings considerable effects on members within a team because talent becomes the first and last requirement.

Pim Verbeek, who has taken charge of the Korean national football team since the end of the 2006 German World Cup, announced that he will bring in new blood to accomplish a successful shift in generation, and put all members to a competition for selecting members of the national team. Thirty-six reserve players, who will participate in a series of training in the National Football Conference (NFC) in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on August 6, will be the first preliminary team in this limitless competition designed by Verbeek.

Verbeek will single out 20 players among the 36 participants and make up the new team for the qualifying match of the 2007 Asian Cup, in which the national team will play with Taiwan on August 16. It is a hard struggle for existence; approximately one out of every two players will have to be cut, and 28 players among the 36 are under the age of 25.

There will be a sharp competition between young players because Verbeek already acknowledged that he would pick players with great potential and talent regardless of age.

Among the 36 players, eight players: Lee Chun-soo (Ulsan), Choi Sung-kuk (Ulsan), Lee Jong-min (Ulsan), Kim Dong-jin (Zenit), Lee Ho (Zenit), Jo Jae-jin (Shimizu), Kim Jin-kyu (Jubilo Iwata), Kim Jung-woo (Nagoya) cannot participate in the first day of the training due to the circumstances of their respective teams. However, Ahn Jung-hwan, who is considering transferring to another team, will attend the training.

The final list of national team members for the Asian Cup is scheduled to be settled on August 10. The members will return to each of their teams for the FA Cup held on August 12, and only those who are listed on the final roster will be called out again at NFC on August 13.

yjongk@donga.com