Outright chances : 250/1
Group G Winners : 10/1
South Korea shocked the soccer world 4 years ago when they beat Italy and Spain to reach the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. It was a outstanding accomplishment. In the group stage, an opening match win over Poland and a shock 1-0 triumph over Portugal ensured they became the 1st 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 employers at Serie A club Perugia. They edged past Spain on penalties in the quarter final before a narrow 1-0 defeat against Germany in the semis brought their fairytale run to a close.
expectancies have risen considerably since that time and Guus Hiddink is a hard act to follow. During qualification Korea went thru 2 coaches before fellow Dutchman Dick Advocaat took over in preparation for the finals in Germany.
South Korea were some distance from convincing during qualification and Hiddkink’s inheritor, HUmberto Coelho, lasted only 2 qualifying matches. He resigned after a bad goalless draw against the Maldives whose recent pedigree includes a 12-0 defeat to Syria and 17-0 hammering against Iran.
Jo Bonfrere took over and despite guiding the team to their fifth successive World Cup finals, quit in Aug 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 just about half a season with the team four years ago in preparation for the 2002 finals, Advocaat, in contrast, has barely had a chance to start to know his squad.
South Korea will not be seen as an unproven 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 tournament while Park Ji-Sung secured a move to Manchester United.
it can also be debated that Korea have struggled defensively since some of their veteran defenders retired since the last World Cup. Particularly previous captain and defensive lynchpin Myung Bo Hong who took part in the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002 finals, at last retiring with 135 caps.
counseled Bet
Following an exceptional run four years back, South Korea could revert to their old ways of not making it past the group stage. Expectancy is at abest-ever record} high but they could suffer from a shock against Togo in their opening match who may be adequate for a draw.
Togo vs South Korea draw 9/4.
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Tags: Advocaat, Seoul, South Korea, World Cup
