Ki Sung Yeung is looking to beat Australia on Thursday to book a place in the last eight of the Asian Cup.
The Celtic midfielder was impressive in South Korea’s 2-1 win over Bahrain yesterday and was involved in the opening goal scored by Koo Ja Cheol.
Tim Cahill of Everton scored a double in Australia’s comfortable 4-0 win over India yesterday with Ki looking forward to the match against the Socceroos who have a more European style of play.
After the win over Bahrain he said: “The three points are very important for us and if we win the next game maybe we will qualify so we have to concentrate on the next match.
“We passed very well and we missed some chances but we still have good players in front of us.
“I think Australia will be more physical than Bahrain so we have to be ready for their tactics.”
The South Koreans are amongst the favourites to win the trophy with much of their hopes built around Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung.
Against Bahrain his inflence was obvious with the Old Trafford favourite hoping to build on his side’s solid start to the tournament.
“The first match is always important at an Asian Cup or a World Cup,” he said after yesterday’s opener.
“The three points makes the rest of the games that much easier for us. It was very important to win today. Tactically, we were solid and our overall performance was good.”
South Korea haven’t won the trophy since 1960- even longer than England’s Worls Cup wait- with captain Park well aware of the pressure on his side to succeed.
We feel very strongly about it,” he responded to the age old question. “Not just me but everyone on the team feels that way. If we end it here, the younger players can build on it in the future and perform on the world stage.”
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Australia will prove a stern test for SK…
I forecast a draw..
It’ll be interesting to see how they approach it. Both should win their final game (Korea-India, Aus-Bahrain) and therefore both should qualify regardless of this game. This would decide first and second in the group, mind you. I’ll cheer on the Koreans but reckon the Aussies might nick it.