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Mighty South Korea wary of India

DOHA - Only minnows India stand between South Korea and a place in the Asian Cup last eight, but Korean coach Cho Kwang-Rae says his side cannot afford to be complacent with the quarter-finals beckoning.

By (AFP)

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Published: Tue 18 Jan 2011, 12:05 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 7:12 PM

India have already been eliminated from the competition, after shipping nine goals in a 4-0 defeat by Australia and a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Bahrain in their last Group C outing.

South Korea drew 1-1 with fellow pre-tournament favourites Australia in their previous game and are widely expected to breeze past Bob Houghton’s side on Tuesday, but Cho says they must approach the game properly.

“We will prepare for the game against India almost the same as for the game against Bahrain (a 2-1 win for South Korea),” said Cho, who is bidding to lead his country to their first Asian Cup title since 1960.

“One thing that is quite important is that we should not underestimate India. That is the most dangerous thing we could do.

“I will ask the players to play as they usually do — pressure from the attacking third, not give them a chance to play the ball and play our own game.”

The Taeguk Warriors are currently level on four points with Australia, who tackle Bahrain, meaning that top spot could ultimately be decided by goal difference. Cho, though, says Korea cannot afford to get ahead of themselves.

“I’m quite sure both teams are desperate to be number one in the group,” he said. “But if we focus too much on scoring lots of goals, it will cause problems.”

Korea attracted plenty of plaudits for the quality of their football against Australia and holding midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng explained that their intricate passing style had been honed to perfection on the training pitch.

“The coach keeps asking us to play the ball quickly by controlling the ball quickly and moving it on,” said the Celtic player.

“By doing this we are able to take control of games. In that aspect we have improved a lot, but we can’t just be satisfied by our previous results. “As the tournament goes on, we have to control certain situations better and we need to improve that aspect a lot.”

Cho said there would be “no big changes” in his starting XI and confirmed that captain Park Ji-Sung was fit to play despite a bout of toothache.

“I was a bit worried about him but he told me he has no problem with it and he will be working hard to play for the team and allow us to qualify in first place,” said Cho on the Manchester United midfielder. India will hope to avoid disgrace in their final game, as they prepare to bid goodbye to their first Asian Cup finals tournament since 1984.

“From India’s perspective, obviously we are already eliminated from the tournament, but this game is still very important for us because this is the first time in 30 years that India have qualified and it’s a very high-profile tournament for us back in India,” said Englishman Houghton.