Sport

Chance for Koreans to show they can also thrive abroad

Group G Switzwerland v South Korea This could be the game when we finally see something like the South Korea of four years ago…

Paddy Agnew
Fri Jun 23 2006 - 01:00

Group G Switzwerland v South Korea This could be the game when we finally see something like the South Korea of four years ago.

While a draw is good enough for the Swiss, only a win guarantees South Korea a place in the second round, given that even the currently melancholic France can be expected to beat Togo in the other group match.

Even without the enticing prospect of the second round, both sides have major points to prove. The South Koreans believe that qualification would silence all those who argued that their progress to the semi-finals four years ago was due as much to home advantage and favourable refereeing as to their footballing abilities.

The Swiss, on the other hand, will be one of the two host countries at the European Championships in two years' time and, as such, are keen to give their relatively young side as much big time experience as possible, given that over the next two years they will be playing only friendlies. That point was underlined this week by their coach Koebi Kuhn, who said: "All our efforts with this young team have been aimed at peaking at the European championship and I originally thought this World Cup would be too early for them. But I couldn't have predicted how quickly players like Philippe Senderos and Tranquillo Barnetta would establish themselves at top European clubs, so it looks like we're now ahead of schedule."

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Both Kuhn and his opposite number, Dutchman Dick Advocaat, are under pressure to make changes. Kuhn may start with Hakan Yakin in attack in place of Daniel Gygax, who is out with a stomach muscle problem. Yakin, on the way back from injury, did well as a second-half replacement for Gygax against Togo.

For his part, Advocaat is under pressure to make changes up front. With the onus on South Korea to make the running, many feel he should start with striker Ahn Jung-Hwan, rather than bring him on as a second-half subsitute.Switzerland (4-4-2)

Zuberbuehler; Magnin, Senderos, Mueller, Degen; Barnetta, Vogel, Cabanas, Wicky; Frei, Streller

South Korea (3-4-3)

Woon-jae; Jin-cheul, Young-chul, Dong-jin; Chong-gug, Nam-il, Ho, Young-pyo; Ji-sung, Jae-jin, Ki-hyeon

Probable line-ups Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Arg) Kick-off: 8.0pm Venue: Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover On TV: BBC 3