Monday, June 12, 2006

Come on and mark me

South 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."
Posted by Samvit :: 3:54 AM :: 0 comments

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