Advocaat barely had a chance to get to know his squad
Outright percentages : 250/1
Group G Winners : 10/1
South Korea shocked the soccer world 4 years back when they beat Italy and Spain to reach the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. It was a noteworthy achievement. In the group stage, an opening match win over Poland and a shock 1-0 victory over Portugal guaranteed they became the first Asian team to qualify from the group stage since Saudi Arabia in 1994.
In the second round they defeated Italy in additional time, a result which saw winning goal scorer Ahn Jung-Hwan sacked by his companies at Serie A club Perugia. They rimmed past Spain on penalties in the quarter-final before a narrow 1-0 defeat against Germany in the semis brought their fairytale run to an end.
expectations have risen considerably since then and Guus Hiddink is a tough act to follow. During qualification Korea went thru two coaches before fellow Dutchman Dick Advocaat took over in preparation for the finals in Germany.
South Korea were far from convincing during qualification and Hiddkink’s successor, HUmberto Coelho, lasted only two qualifying matches. He resigned after an embarrassing goalless draw against the Maldives whose recent pedigree has a 12-0 defeat to Syria and 17-0 hammering against Iran.
Jo Bonfrere took over and notwithstanding steering the team to their fifth successive World Cup finals, quit in August 2005 following lacklustre performances. Korea finished as runners up in their qualifying group but endured home and away defeats to Saudi Arabia and an away draw to lowly Uzbekistan.
While Hiddink enjoyed nearly half a season with the team 4 years back in preparation for the 2002 finals, Advocaat, in contrast, has hardly had a chance to get to know his squad.
South Korea won’t be seen as an unassessed quantity and a number of players are excelling at club level in Europe. Hiddink took a number of quality players with him to PSV Eindoven following the last contest while Park Ji-Sung secured a move to Manchester United.
it can also be contended that Korea have wrestled defensively since some of their veteran defenders retired since the last World Cup. Particularly former captain and defensive lynchpin Myung Bo Hong who participated in the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002 finals, eventually retiring with 135 caps.
recommended Bet
Following a remarkable run 4 years back, South Korea could go back to their old techniques of not making it past the group stage. Expectancy is at aall time record} high but they could suffer with a shock against Togo in their opening match who could be good enough for a draw.
Togo vs South Korea draw 9/4.
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