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 Monday, June 19, 2006France 1-1 South KoreaFrance remain without a win in the World Cup finals since their 1998 victory over Brazil after South Korea came from behind to snatch a point. Thierry Henry gave France an early lead, latching on to Sylvain Wiltord's deflected shot to sidefoot home. Patrick Vieira was denied a goal when his header was blocked by Korea keeper Lee Woon-Jae after it crossed the line, but the referee did not give the goal. But with 10 minutes to go Park Ji-sung punished sloppy French defending. The draw left South Korea top of Group G with four points, two ahead of France, who are in jeopardy of crashing out of the World Cup at the group stages for the second successive time. France spurned two chances to score in a frenetic finale, Vieira ballooning the ball over the bar from a good position and Henry missing with just the goalkeeper to beat. The 1998 winners had looked soporific in their opening game against Switzerland but Raymond Domenech's side gave an altogether more alert performance until they slackened off in the closing stages. Malouda's return had much to do with France's improvement as les bleus played at a much quicker tempo than they had managed against the Swiss. Just as importantly Vieira gave a more convincing performance as well in the centre of midfield for France. France laid siege to the South Korean goal in the opening 10 minutes and Lee Woon-jae did well to come out and narrow the angle to prevent Sylvain Wiltord from scoring. The South Korean goalkeeper had no chance of stopping France's next attack - Henry took one touch before he found the net with deadly precision. France should have had a second goal when Vieira's header clearly crossed the line, despite Lee Woon-jae's desperate efforts to keep the ball out. When the ball came out of the goal Malouda lunged to reach it and in doing so he was penalised for fouling Ho Lee. For 75 minutes of the game South Korea's attacks had tended to peter out the nearer they got to France's goal. Just before the interval France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez had a momentary scare when Lee Chun-soo's free-kick went narrowly wide after it travelled through a packed penalty area. Barthez was just as inactive for much of the second half but in the 81st minute when he was called on to be decisive he flapped in a desperately indecisive fashion. Seol Ki-Hyeon's deep cross from the right was headed back by Cho Jae-Jin and Park scooped the ball over Barthez and William Gallas. Zinedine Zidane was then booked for France and will now miss the third match, possibly bringing down the curtain on his career in a way he could never have envisaged. Having reached the semi-finals in 2002, South Korea had been written off in the build-up to Germany 2006, but Dick Advocaat's side are on the verge of reaching the last 16, exceeding all expectations. 
Saturday, June 17, 2006Advocaat wary of wounded FranceSouth Korea's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat insists France remain a huge force despite their current troubles. France must look to secure victory against the Koreans to avoid crashing out of the World Cup in the group stages for the second successive time. But Advocaat warned: "We have heard a lot of stories about France but that team has so much quality. In principle, if they play the way they can play, it will be very difficult for us." South Korea top the group having secured a 2-1 win over Togo, while France were held to a goalless draw in their opening fixture against Switzerland. And Advocaat added: "Hopefully France has not a good day and we have a very good day. That is what I hope. It is quite simple - everybody expects that France will win, so there is no reason for our team to be nervous. They just have to go out and play their game." South Korean striker Lee Chun-soo, who scored from a free-kick in their triumph over Togo, does not feel they have anything to fear against the former World Cup winners. He said: "France are a team with big name players but we are used to playing against famous defenders with big reputations, it's not a big change for us."
South Korea took their time to get going before finally overcoming the resistance of 10-man Togo. The one moment of real quality in the first half came when Togo's Mohamed Kader controlled the ball on his thigh and lashed home a fine shot. Kader nearly made it two after the break before Jean-Paul Abalo's second booking saw him sent off. Lee Chun-Soo curled in the resulting free-kick and Ahn Jung-Hwan's deflected strike won the game for South Korea. Sweltering temperatures beneath a closed roof ensured the game got off to a sluggish start, with little real incident at either end in the early stages. The deadlock was broken just past the half hour with the first moment of real quality from either side. Kader sprinted forward, controlled the ball beautifully with his thigh and shot low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Cho Jae-Jin and Lee Eul-Yong tried long-range efforts as South Korea tried to get back into the game, but they still seemed dazed at having gone behind. Junior Senaya's free-kick almost doubled Togo's lead just before half-time, drawing a fine save from Lee Woon-Jae. Kader showed neat footwork as he nearly added a second early in the second half, before Jean-Paul Abalo was sent off for a foul on Park Ji-Sung, and Lee Chun-Soo's perfectly judged free-kick from just outside the box drew South Korea level. Cho Jae-Jin narrowly missed connecting with a diving header as the pace of the game picked up following the second goal, with Moustapha Salifou having a couple of chances for Togo. But it was Korean substitute Ahn Jung-Hwan who was next to find the net, turning on the edge of the box to fire a deflected shot high into the roof of the net. Emmanuel Adebayor wasted a great chance for Togo when he fouled his marker when in a scoring position, as Korea took a tight grip on the game. Togo battled valiantly, but ultimately South Korea's one-man advantage proved decisive.
Monday, June 12, 2006Come on and mark meSouth Korea midfielder Park Ji-Sung believes that his fame will act as a magnet for Togo's defence leaving room for his team-mates to exploit in their opening FIFA World Cup Group G match on Tuesday. The Manchester United star is expecting to be tightly marked by Togo and said on Sunday that if the ball was released quickly the Korean attack could capitalise on the open spaces. "We expect the Togo defence to concentrate on me because they have seen me play (for Manchester United)," said Park during a meet-the-media session at the team hotel in Berlin. "This will give us a good opportunity. If I can draw players and pass quickly maybe I can find (striker) Ahn Jung-Hwan and (winger) Seol Ki-Hyeon in space." Park was just 21 and an unknown quantity when he starred for South Korea in their glorious run to the 2002 FIFA World Cup semi-finals on home soil. Pressure: He said that the pressure would be greater this time around now that players like himself and Lee Young-Pyo were playing in the English Premiership. "Of course, the pressure is very high but I think we can handle it. Everyone knows that our first job is to beat Togo - after that we can look to the next game (against France)," said the 25-year-old who has scored five goals in 60 outings for South Korea. Spurs wing-back Lee said that his commitment to Christianity would help him deal with the weight of expectation. "We have 12 players in the squad who are Christians and that gives us added strength," said Lee, who has played 85 times for South Korea. "In 2002 there were six, now there are 12. That is a very good thing for us. I believe Jesus will give me a good result at this World Cup." Seol agreed with Park that the players were carrying more burden this year than in 2002 when they were a surprise package. "The pressure is more than four years ago. It was a surprise not just to people in Korea but everywhere in the world that we reached the semi-finals," said the Wolves winger. "This time people are expecting us to play well - we have to do it again. It is not easy to play France and Switzerland, but we are ready to take them on and beat them."
 1 LEE Woon Jae (GK) 2 KIM Young Chul 3 KIM Dong Jin 4 CHOI Jin Cheul 5 KIM Nam Il 6 KIM Jin Kyu 7 PARK Ji Sung 8 KIM Do Heon 9 AHN Jung Hwan 10 PARK Chu Young 11 SEOL Ki Hyeon 12 LEE Young Pyo 13 LEE Eul Yong 14 LEE Chun Soo 15 BAEK Ji Hoon 16 CHUNG Kyung Ho 17 LEE Ho 18 KIM Sang Sik 19 CHO Jae Jin 20 KIM Yong Dae (GK) 21 KIM Young Kwang (GK) 22 SONG Chong Gug 23 CHO Won Hee
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