Spotlight on China vs Korea in Samsung Cup July 28

Coaches Friendly Ahead of Match

The annual soccer match between China and Korea is at hand again and the significance of this year's match is huge for both sides. China desperately wants to shake the "Korea-phobia" monkey off its back, having never beaten the Koreans. Korea is looking at this match as a warm up for the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Since Korea made the cut to play in Sydney Games, it's been feverishly preparing for the summer games. Besides playing against other Koreans at home, it has sent a number of its top players to compete in Europe. The Koreans have also played friendly matches with foreign teams to grow stronger. In the game against Japan this April, the Korean defeated the Japanese 1 to 0, avenging its two losses against Japan last year. Since then, the Koreans have rid themselves of its "Japan-phobia." The Korean head coach Bum Kun Cha isn't especially nervous about tonight's match against China, even though China has changed head coach since the last time they met. He says, the Korean facing the Chinese will still be formed from the basic frame of the Olympic team. It will mainly be used to prepare for the Sydney Games. Tonight's match will give the players a chance to prove how well they work together and the players going to the Olympics will be chosen based on this match.

But "not nervous" does not equal to "not important." As the match with China draws closer, there is more pressure on the Koreans for two reasons. One, two of Bum Kun Cha's favorite players will not play in the match against China, which will hurt the Koreans. Two, the four warmup matches the Koreans scheduled has been whittled down to two now. Liberia and Brazil pulled out of their matches with Korea. Thus, Korea's game with Nigeria and China have become very important. Thus, Bum Kun Cha will treat the match with China as an "actual combat" situation.

The Korean frontline are anchored by forwards Kim Do Hoon and Choi Yong Soo. These two are veterans on the Korea team, both are between 27 and 29 years old. Kim Do Hoon set a new record in the Korean professional league this year by scoring in eight consecutive games and was ranked at the top of the list in scoring in the K-League. Choi Yong Soo is the leading scorer on his Anyang LG club. Completing Korea's veteran players is 21-year-old Lee Dong-kook. Last October, Lee scored the first goal in the Olympic trials match against China. The midfield is also solid, but the defense is weak. Bum Kun Cha is looking for new blood to shore up the team's defense.

The competition amongst the Koreans for the final spots on the Olympic team cannot be overlooked in tonight's match. Six of the players on the Korean team are overage and the coach will choose three of those six for the Olympic team.

The Samsung Cup will be held July 28 in Beijing. The Korean team started practicing together July 23 and arrived in Beijing July 26. As one Korean fan said, the Chinese have gone up against the Koreans for years and always lost, but never admitted defeat. Actually, if the Chinese are able to tie the Koreans, they would consider it a victory but the Koreans would consider it a loss.