South Korea’s Kim Chi-woo, left, competes for the ball against North Korea’s Jong Taese in their World Cup qualifier Sunday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. / Yonhap

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Huh Jung-moo has yet to deliver a coaching masterwork in his six months in charge of the South Korean national team, which is playing as soft and unassuming as its pre-match national anthem.

Huh now has three months to make adjustments in his tactics and team selection before his side enters the fourth and final phase of the World Cup qualification rounds in September.

At stake is South Korea's ambitions for a seventh consecutive World Cup berth and perhaps its survival as a serious football nation.

And if the recent uninspiring play is a true indication of their abilities, the chances of the South Koreans surviving tougher foes such as Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran don't look too great.

Or so says West Bromwich Albion playmaker Kim Do-heon, who failed to hide his disgust after South Korea looked dull in a scoreless draw against North Korea in a round-three match in Seoul Saturday: ``We can't expect to survive the final qualification round if we continue to play like this.''

``We must communicate with each other better on the pitch and take a stronger control of the game," the midfielder said bluntly. ``We also must have a better awareness of space and time our moves better, as we failed to exploit the seams against North Korea and made ourselves predictable."

Huh was more diplomatic, saying he saw ``hope" in what he called a ``diligent" performance by his players. However, those words rang hollow just minutes later when Huh admitted that his team needs ``stronger defense and better strikers."

``All I can do is try harder to find better players in the K-League and foreign leagues," said Huh.

``We need to be more clinical with our scoring chances. Players like Kim Jung-woo, Oh Jang-eun and Cho Hyo-jin, who are all competing for minutes at their positions, did well against the North Koreans, so we can take something from that."

South Korea is included among the 10 teams advancing to the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, which continue from September to June of next year and stake four or five berths to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Is This South Korea's Best Team?

It's obvious that the South Korean team has been underperforming. And that includes the man in the dugout.

Granted, it might be a lot to ask Huh to weave magic when the shortage of international-class players is so glaringly evident.

South Korea's previous squad, defined by caution and timidity, has little resemblance of its 2002 version that intrigued fans with its audacious, high-octane style and resilience. Huh retaining a safety-first approach against the likes of Jordan and Turkmenistan ― low-profile opponents the Koreans should be obliterating, at least according to FIFA rankings ― was more a confession than strategy.

However, the players' lack of cohesion and purpose is now leading to questions over Huh's ability to build a team with a distinct identity, and against North Korea, the coach seemed depleted of ideas.

Huh is finally coming around to the thought that languid FC Seoul forward Park Chu-young is not and perhaps never will be effective as a lone striker.

However, it's anybody's guess what Huh sees in Ko Ki-gu, who replaced Park as the leader of the line against North Korea but was easily muted by the visitors' physical defense.

It's not like Ko was getting much help from his teammates. Creaky veteran Ahn Jung-hwan, who now moves like an old lady with constipation, wasn't getting any separation on the left flank, while Lee Chung-yong was out of touch on the right.

Huh put Ahn out of his misery in the second half, when he replaced him with Park and switched to a two-man front.

However, Park botched a crucial chance in the 73rd minute as Huh looked away in frustration.

Kim, who was assigned to pluck the midfield strings in a free-roaming role behind Ko, said the players must learn to read the game better.

``The first man receiving the ball must do a better job in opening up his teammates and creating routes," said Kim.

``It seems that the ball was moving between stationary targets. We can't expect to score like that."

It is true that the country's pool of quality attacking talent is shallow at the moment. However, it's questionable whether the situation is dire enough to warrant the summons of Ko, who is good at being tall but nothing else, and Ahn, whose talent has clearly abandoned his experience.

Although goals are a problem for South Korea, the country's highest profile striker, Jeonbuk Motors' Cho Jae-jin, watched the match against North Korea on television.

The Suwon BlueWings duo of Shin Young-rok and Seo Dong-hyun, both among the league leaders in scoring, could also provide clear value to the team.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

Originally Posted by richardp996 What they need is Russia's current coach, Guss Hiddink, back. He coached the Korean national team and brought them to fourth place in the 2002 world cup. He also brought Australia to the World Cup in 2006 and that suprised everyone. Here he is coaching the Russians who will play against Spain in the semi-finals.