Who will succeed Park Ji-sung as nat`l soccer captain?

With the retirement of Park Ji-sung from the national soccer squad, the search for a new team captain has begun.

The team is training in Istanbul to prepare for a friendly match against Turkey Thursday, and a major task of the Taegeuk Warriors is injection of fresh blood. The first infusion came before the Qatar Asian Cup last month and the game versus Turkey will see the second.

Coincidentally, the fielding of raw talent is occurring in the absence of major players. When striker Park Chu-young, 26, of AS Monaco was injured last month, he was replaced by Koo Ja-cheol, 22, of VfL Wolfsburg, Ji Dong-won, 20, of the Chunnam Dragons, and Son Heung-min, 19, of SV Hamburg.

As Park of Manchester United, 29, and Lee Young-pyo of Al-Hilal, 34, announced their retirement from international play, the national team needs younger players to replace them.

○ Park Chu-young and Koo instead of Park Ji-sung

National team coach Cho Kwang-rae said he will play Park Chu-young and Koo at left-wing striker. Park Ji-sung has recommended Son and Kim Bo-kyung, 22, of Cerezo Osaka as his replacement.

Cho, however, apparently wants the best performance right away and has mentioned Koo and Park Chu-young. "I`ll flexibly play Park (Chu-young) and Koo if necessary. If Park is in the middle, Koo will be on the left," Cho said.

"I`ll test Kim Bo-kyung, too, but Koo and Park come before Kim because they stand out."

○ Hong Chul and Yoon Seok-young in place of Lee Young-pyo

Cho also picked Hong Chul, 21, of Seongnam Ilhwa and Yoon Seok-young, 21, of the Chunnam Dragons to replace Lee Young-pyo, a left-wing defender.

"Though it`s not easy to make up for Lee`s absence, I think Hong and Yoon will show a good performance since they`ve been outstanding for their teams," the coach said.

Cho is keen on the two youngsters in that they are left-footers and have high potential despite their young age and short time as defenders. The Turkey game will likely serve as their first test.

yjongk@donga.com