Soccer: Koreans cannot be written off

TAEJON - South Korea will look for inspiration both past and present as they bid to continue their World Cup adventure with a victory over the mighty Italians in tonight's eagerly awaited second-round clash.

Italy's worst cup experience came at the hands of unfancied North Korea, who humiliated them 1-0 in the first round of the 1966 tournament, and although this South Korean side are much more sophisticated, it would still be a huge shock if the triple world champions were to fall to the co-hosts.

Poland, the United States and even Portugal are one thing; cup heavyweights Italy, the masters of controlled defending, are quite another.

However, it is impossible to predict how high this energised South Korean team can ride the incredible emotional wave of national support that has carried them into the last 16.

So, in this tournament of shocks, no one is writing off Korea's chances, particularly as Italy look to have lost the heart of their defence to injury and suspension and have stuttered their way into the second round.

South Korea's coach, Guus Hiddink, said his greatest achievement in 18 months in charge had been to convince the players to believe in themselves, and tonight's game would fully test that self confidence.

After failing to win a game in five previous cups they reached the knockout phase of this tournament as group winners and seem finally to have overcome the inferiority complex that always seemed to undermine their chances.

Hiddink has now taken the mind games a stage further. Aware that Italy's experienced players will deal with the crowd noise and high-speed attacks far more easily than Korea's first-round opponents, the Dutchman has been trying to tempt them to attack.

"They don't care so much about the beauty of the game and they know how to bring about a result. How they achieve it is not important," he said.

Such a psychological approach is doomed to failure against the Italians, however, who indeed would be delighted to progress to a quarter-final meeting with Spain on the back of a 1-0 win in the most boring game of the tournament.

Italian striker Francesco Totti said: "We know we are playing away from home but it's not a problem.

"They might have an advantage with the crowd, but they will still have to use that advantage against a great team."

Of much more concern to coach Giovanni Trapattoni is the hole that has appeared in the centre of his defence after the suspension of Fabio Cannavaro and a foot injury that looks set to rule out Alessandro Nesta.

The reorganisation is likely to involve Paolo Maldini switching from left back to the middle alongside Mark Iuliano, where they will have to be on their toes to deal with the pacy thrusts of the Koreans.

Trapattoni faces many team questions as he seeks to step up a level after the defeat against Croatia and somewhat desperate 1-1 draw with Mexico that edged them through.

The injury-enforced absence of Luigi Di Biagio has hit hard and midfield shuffling seems to have produced the right balance.

Up front he must decide whether to start with Alessandro Del Piero, who came off the bench to score the late equaliser against Mexico, or whether to again play Filippo Inzaghi alongside Christian Vieri.

Hiddink has no major injury problems. His dilemma is whether to start with Ahn Jung-hwan up front or give a 100th cap to 50-goal veteran Hwang Sun-hong.

Probable teams:-

South Korea: Lee Woon-jae; Song Chong-gug, Choi Jin-cheul, Hong Myung-bo, Kim Tae-young; Park Ji-sung, Yoo Sang-chul, Kim Nam-il, Lee Young-pyo; Hwang Sun-hong, Seol Ki-hyeon.

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon; Christian Panucci, Mark Iuliano (or Alessandro Nesta), Paolo Maldini, Francesco Coco; Gianluca Zambrotta, Cristiano Zanetti, Damiano Tommasi, Francesco Totti; Alessandro Del Piero (or Filippo Inzaghi), Christian Vieri.

- REUTERS

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