Another weekend gone and one more match closer to the 2010 World Cup. June is almost over and a place in the final round of world cup qualification is assured. It is time to take stock of a busy period that has raised a number of questions. The main issue is how the Taeguk Warriors will fare against stronger opposition when the action resumes in September. On Friday, the ten Asian teams that survived the just-finished third round will be split into two groups of five. The top two from each group will automatically book their places in South Africa. The two third-placed teams play-off for the right to face Oceania’s representative –the winner of that match goes to the World Cup. Confused? Well, then you know how the Korean defence has felt on a regular basis in the past few weeks. At times the backline has struggled against the attacks of Turkmenistan and Jordan, so it is worrying to consider what may happen against the craft of the Japanese, the speed of the Saudis or the skill of the Iranians. On the face of it six games in Group Three and a record of three wins and three draws is perfectly acceptable but it doesn’t tell the whole story. February It all started well with a 4-0 thrashing of Turkmenistan in Seoul. English-based stars Park Ji-sung and Seol Ki-hyeon starred. It was the perfect start though the media was concerned at how much better the overseas stars were than the K-Leagues. March The press was singing, along with the coach, a different tune at the end of March after a dull goalless draw against North Korea in Shanghai. This time Seol, as well as fellow London resident, Lee Young-pyo were partly blamed by the press and the boss for the unimaginative display. May The low point of the six games was the last 20 minutes against Jordan in Seoul on May 31. Cruising 2-0 against the West Asians, Jordan took advantage of some poor goalkeeping and defending to pull a goal back. Then everything went wrong and the team fell to pieces. In the end, it was almost a relief to tie 2-2 against a team then ranked 104 in the world by FIFA. The next day, coach Huh Jung-moo irresponsibly placed part of the blame on goalkeeper Kim Yong-dae. He also suggested that the Korean Football Association (KFA) should lift the ban on veteran shotstopper Lee Woon-jae. Lee’s late-night drinking exploits during the 2007 Asian Cup earned himself a 12-month enforced absence from the national team which ends in November. The KFA said it was too early. Huh said he never made the request anyway and it was all the media’s work. June It hadn’t been a good 48 hours for Korean football but to the team’s credit, it bounced back and won 1-0 in Jordan a week later. The performance wasn’t great, the defense again looked shaky but it was a good win in a tough environment. The same could be said of the 3-1 victory against Turkmenistan a week later. The team scored its only goal of the group against the Koreans and caused the visitors more trouble than it really should have been allowed to, but the hat-trick from Park Ji-sung replacement Kim Do-heon picked up another three points. Then came a second goalless draw at home against the North Koreans in Seoul, a dull game against a defensive-minded team. Next… There is work to do, starting on Friday when the identities of South Korea’s four opponents in the final stage will be revealed. The last time that South Korea failed to reach the World Cup was back in 1982, and hard work and a little imagination is needed to ensure that unwanted history is not made. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

North Korean striker Jong Tae-se was battling with a throng of reporters in the bowels of Seoul World Cup Stadium after the 0-0 World Cup qualification draw. He was obviously not enjoying himself. No sooner had he been presented with a bunch of CDs from South Korea’s finest bands, he then had to field questions such as “Have you been to Lotte World?” The Kawasaki Frontale goalgetter grimaced, closed his eyes, and replied that he had not, in fact, seen the theme park in south-east of Seoul. “The People’s Rooney” is a star in the south and obviously unused to the attention of the press. The same could be same about defenders. Watched more carefully than before, Jong battled hard but got little change out of Lee Jung-soo and Kang Min-soo in the centre of the home backline. It was a friendly occasion. The home fans applauded the northern anthem, one of the very few times it has been heard in public south of the 38th Parallel. The match was played in good spirits though at the end it was noticeable that, unlike at Shanghai on March 26, the DPRK players applauded their fans only and not the Red Devils. The Taeguk Warriors paid respects to both sets of fans. The game was dull. North Korea preserved their impressive record of not conceding a goal in the group. The closest that came to being ruined was in the second half when Park Chu-young missed a glorious chance near the penalty spot. The visitors threatened little. Jung was quiet as was Hong Yong-jo. Ri Kwang Chon went the closest with a second half header. That was about as exciting as it got the 48,000 fans in the stadium. 40,000 tickets had been sold relatively quickly but once it became apparent that both teams had already qualified for the next stage, not many more people thought that traveling to the north-west edge of Seoul for a game that would finish around 10 pm on a Sunday was something they wanted to do. North Koreans can be surly visitors. At the airport, just a few ‘nice to meet yous’ and ‘we will do our bests’ and that is it as far as talking to the media is concerned until after the match itself. If you have a chance to chat to the DPRK’s overseas players individually, not possible while they are on national team duty in the south, they are friendly and full of questions but as a team, they give as much away off the pitch as the defence does on it. Due to the unique political situation between the two nations, arranging such games is a headache, especially for officials south of the border. Multiple meetings take place in Kaesong to thrash things out but even just four days before kick-off, a KFA official told me that he thought the North Koreans would ‘probably’ come. So, the thought of doing it all again would probably not be well-received in Seoul or Pyongyang. Maybe Jong will have to wait a little longer to sample the delights of ‘Lotte World.’ Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

The Rainy Season arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, 24 hours before the North Koreans were due to touch down. Skies above the peninsula were more threatening than a Dutch counter-attack. The ‘Sunshine Policy’ of recent South Korean governments in regards to the communist North Korea had its critics who claimed that all the warmth was flowing one-way only. Last weekend however, the roles were reversed as the North Korean national soccer team did its southern counterpart a big favor during qualification for the 2010 World Cup. Fans in Seoul will get a chance to show their appreciation on Sunday night as north and south do battle at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. DPRK defeated Jordan 2-0 in Pyongyang early last Saturday evening. That result meant that the team was certain of a top two finish in Group Three and a place in the final round of qualification which starts in September. It also ensured that it would be joined by South Korea. It was a pleasant piece of news for the Taeguk Warriors four hours before they took the field against Turkmenistan. The fact that both Koreas are through with one game to spare in Group Three means that Sunday’s match will be lacking a competitive edge that could otherwise have made it very interesting. The two coaches won’t mind that one bit. It is an extra game and a welcome chance to iron out some of the rough spots that had become apparent during the previous four matches. For the south, there was another bonus against Turkmenistan – the three goals from midfielder Kim Do-heon. It was a ray of sunshine at the end of a week that had seen Park Ji-sung experience knee problems. Kim, drafted into the team to replace the Manchester United man, was the star of the show in the Olympic Stadium in Ashgabat. The three goals will also have been well-received in England at Kim’s club, Premier League new boys West Bromich Albion. Now the sometimes shaggy-haired midfielder deserves to keep his place in the team for the ‘Korea Derby’ regardless of whether Park recovers. “It’s my wife’s birthday tomorrow and I wanted to give a present to our baby that will be born soon,” Kim told reporters. “It was a nice victory and it is good that now there is no pressure on us for the North Korea match.” Kim returned to Seoul on Sunday, in time to share seaweed soup with his wife and four days before the North Koreans. There were concerns they would never arrive and even now, FIFA and Korean Football Association (KFA) will breathe a sigh of relief when the plane from Beijing touches down in Incheon. The first inter-Korean match that was due to take place in Pyongyang in March 26 was relocated to Shanghai following a row over the playing of national anthems and the flying of flags. The South Koreans have demonstrated in recent years, especially at the 2005 East Asian Championships, that they don’t have a problem with the North Korean flag fluttering in the Land of the Morning Calm. Despite that the north still wasn’t too keen. In April, it was first reported that it wanted FIFA to move the game. Last week, the beef protests in Gwanghwamun provided another opportunity. Officials said they were concerned about the safety of their players, even the vegetarian ones. Once again, it was requested that Saturday’s game be relocated from Seoul to a third country or Jeju Island, famous for its pork. Once again, the KFA, backed by FIFA, refused and Huh Jung-moo was able to start focusing on the game. “North Korea is a very defensive team,” Huh Jung-moo said on Tuesday, pointing out that it had yet to concede a goal in five qualification matches. “We need to break through their defence line but also watch out for their counter-attacks.” Such sorties will likely be led by Jong Tae-se. For most southern fans it is the first chance to take a look at North Korea’s star striker. Jong, dubbed “The People’s Rooney” was born to South Korean parents in Japan and scored against his parents’ homeland in February at the East Asian Cup. “I am ready to show what I can do in Seoul,” he told reporters last week. “We are looking to win.” It doesn’t matter who wins now. It is all about getting ready for the next round. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Good performances during difficult World Cup qualification campaigns are like empty seats in the Seoul subway during rush hour. The extra comfort gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling but the important thing is that you get where you want to go to. That seems to be happening for South Korea who bounced back from a disappointing 2-2 draw in their 2010 World Cup qualifier in Seoul on May 31 to win 1-0 in Amman seven days later. It wasn’t a great performance at the King Abdullah Stadium but the three points puts the Taeguk Warriors on the brink of a place in the final round of qualification. With two group games to come, Korea is in first place with eight points, the same as North Korea. Jordan is in third with four points, three ahead of Central Asian no-hopers Turkmenistan. The top two from each group progresses. Korea needs two points from the final two games to do so and will need none if Jordan fails to win both remaining games. Jordan is in action in Pyongyang on Saturday while South Korea travels to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The environment in the reclusive Central Asian nation is not the easiest and it took a Herculean effort for players and officials to get the necessary visas. As Turkmenistan have yet to score in four games so far, the necessary three points should be collected a little easier, meaning that when the two Koreas meet in Seoul on June 22, there will be little to play for. There is still much to do however. The defence held firm against Jordan but that, at times, was due more to luck than anything else. Hasan Abdel-Fattah, who scored both Jordan’s goals in Seoul, will never know how he managed to head the ball against the Korean post before half-time with the goal gaping. The media has been less than impressed and has been quick to point out that Huh has done little to stiffen the backline as well as solve the team’s problems in front of goal. The former should prove to be a little easier than the latter. It would help however if the backline members enjoyed a consistent stretch of games together without being switched around or replaced. “It was a precious three points for us,” Park Ji-sung said after the match, “but personally, I am not satisfied with the way I played. It is always tough to come to the Middle-East, the environment, the culture, the referees etc are different. Most teams find it tough.” “Although we are confident for the Turkmenistan game after beating the team 4-0 in Seoul but we need to be careful and get the three points we need to secure our advancement.” It will have to be done without Park whose water on the knee has rained on Korea’s parade. It is the same knee that underwent major surgery just over a year ago. Both player and doctor stressed that there was no pain –although Korean television showed Park limping – only a strange feeling. Perhaps that is because Korea could be about to line-up without any of its English-based premier league stars. Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon both failed to play much in the second half of the English season for Spurs and Fulham respectively and both failed to impress in the red –if you can call it that- shirts of Korea. Kim Do-heon only just qualifies as a Premier leaguer but these days the talented West Brom man hardly ever makes it on to the pitch for either club or country. Whoever plays, the three points are paramount. In World Cup qualification you don’t want to go into the final game needing something. Too many things can go wrong, so the game against Turkmenistan is a good opportunity. The venue in Central Asia may not be one to Korea’s liking but the opposition has yet to score in qualification and the team is nothing to be too worried about. Coach Huh has many things to consider in his own team but for the moment what matters most is making sure that the South Korea’s is one of ten names that goes into the hat when the draw for the final round of qualification takes place. Ouch! Daejeon Citizen star Koh Jung-soo broke FC Seoul hearts and then something of his own after an over-elaborate celebration of a last-minute equaliser. Please click to enlarge the photo which comes courtesy of Sports Chosun newspaper. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

“I couldn’t understand it” said South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo last Saturday night. He wasn’t alone. Around 55,000 people in Seoul World Cup Stadium were also scratching their heads and shouting their disapproval after watching the national team somehow allow Jordan to come back and draw 2-2 in a qualification match for the 2010 World Cup. It had looked so good –the situation that is. The performance was nothing special but early in the second half, South Korea was leading 2-0 thanks to a goal from Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung that brought the house down and then a penalty from Park Chu-young that seemed to have brought the curtain down on the fixture with the middle-eastern team ranked 104 in the world by FIFA. Then it all went wrong. Substitute Hasan Abdel-Fattah scored with Jordan’s second attack of the match after 72 minutes. Then the Korean players lost their heads and shape. Seven minutes later, the whole Korean backline may as well have been at the anti-US beef protests in downtown Gwanghwamun for all the good they did in allowing Hasan to stroll through the middle and export something of his own that sent the visitors crazy. It was a hugely disappointing end. A win would have seen Korea take control of the Group Three at the halfway stage. The top two progress to the final round of qualification. Seoul debutant’s Lee Jang-soo and Lee Chung-young did enough to keep their places though the former will be told to keep his place at the back when you are defending a 2-1 lead with ten minutes to go. For the rest, there is much for coach Huh to ponder. Fortunately, he and the players can make amends quickly. The two teams meet again in Jordan on Saturday. A defeat in Amman would put Korean hopes of a seventh successive World Cup appearance in danger. For so long have the Taeguk Warriors appeared on the global stage every four years that it is taken for granted. With players such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo, Kim Do-heon and others, perhaps that is to be expected but the last 20 minutes of the Jordan match was a wake-up call that qualification through Asia, is getting tougher all the time. After saying last week that Jordan was nothing to be scared of, coach Huh seems to have changed his tune. “Jordan is strong. There are no nations easy to play against and the away match will be a tough one for us to handle.” It will be. Instead of arriving in Amman four points clear of their rivals, the gap is just a point. Jordan will be even happier after witnessing the way Korea crumbled under pressure in the final 20 minutes. King Abdullah International Stadium is expected to be sold-out with 54,000 people hoping to see stars such as Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan leave empty-handed. Three and a half years ago, South Korea crashed 2-0 in Saudi Arabia in a match that became known as ‘ The Damman Shock’ . An ‘Amman shock’ would be much more serious. copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football K-League Betting

The build-up for South Korea’s summer series of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup started the minute Park Ji-sung arrived at Incheon International Airport last Saturday, dressed in the words of some reports, "like a model" in a white jacket and pink shirt. All attention had been centred on Park’s non-appearance in the UEFA Champions League final on May 21 when Manchester United defeated Chelsea. That is all in the past now as Park told reporters at the arrival gate: “Qualification for the World Cup is now my biggest goal.” South Korea continues its journey along the road to the 2010 World Cup on Saturday with a home match against Jordan at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Saturday. The Taeguk Warriors sit in top spot in Group Three with four points from the first two games. The top two from the four nations progress to the final round of qualification. It is a busy time as in the three weeks following the Seoul match, coach Huh Jung-moo will take his team to Jordan for a return match and then on to Turkmenistan before returning to Seoul to face North Korea on June 22. With failing to progress to the next round unthinkable, Huh has decided to trust in some familiar faces. The selection of Korea’s English Premier League players was no surprise but the recall of Ahn Jung-hwan for the first time in almost two years was a big story. Ahn was a hero of the 2002, and to a lesser extent, the 2006 World Cup. Since that time he has been back in the K-league but only scored his first goal in the competition last week for Busan I’Park. And that didn’t really count. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma had taken the lead at Busan by breaking one of soccer’s unwritten rules which states that if a player kicks the ball out of play because of an injured team-mate, the resultant throw-in is thrown back to that team. Seongnam didn’t seem to think this was necessary, won possession from the throw-in and scored the opening goal. Seongnam coach Kim Hak-beom was none too impressed with his players and told them that they had to allow Busan to score. It came to pass that the Seongnam players stood around as Ahn dribbled up the pitch to put the ball into the net. The 32 year-old may not have scored many but he has been playing well for Busan, the team at the bottom of the league. “Although being overshadowed by his team's poor record, Ahn's play on the pitch proves that his stamina and skills are at a high level," Huh told reporters. “Ahn is in good form, and I think his veteran presence and wealth of experience in big tournaments will provide valuable leadership to the team." We could even see a frontline made up of 2002 stars including Park and Seol Ki-hyeon. Huh’s selections are conservative but given that failure to finish in the top two would cost him his job and reputation, it is perhaps not surprising that some of the K-League’s young prospects have not been considered. Suwon pair Seo Dong-hyun and Shin Young-rok are in better form than any of the strikers that Huh chose as are the Daegu duo of Jang Nam-seok and Lee Keun-ho. Jordan, who lost 2-0 in a warm-up game in China last weekend, should not be underestimated but should not pose too tough a threat in Seoul. The team has belied its reputation as strong at home but weak away so far in the qualification campaign. An opening day defeat in Amman at the hands of the North Koreans was followed by a win at the home of Turkmenistan. Avoiding defeat in Seoul would be a huge result for the team led by well-traveled Portuguese coach Nelo Vingada. It would also make huge trouble for Huh Jung-moo but the old boys should be able to ensure that South Korea take another step closer to South Africa. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Any meeting between the two Koreas on the football pitch is special but the fact that it is a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup adds a good deal of hot pepper sauce to an already unique dish of that old Korean favourite bibimbap. Temperatures were certainly rising recently as North Korea refused to play the Aegukka or fly the Taegukki at the massive Kim Sung-Il Stadium in Pyongyang. An offer of a rendition of Arirang and a joint flag didn’t fly at the Seoul offices of the Korean Football Association. The administrators opened FIFA’s rulebook and pointed to the relevant clause that requests all nations hosting World Cup qualifiers to provide both flags and anthems. The game’s global governing body decided to move the game to Shanghai. FIFA didn’t punish Pyongyang for its refusal to play by the rules but playing in China certainly takes away advantages from the ‘hosts’. Instead of 100,000 partisan fans on the other side of the DMZ, the 35,000 capacity Hongkou Stadium in Shanghai is likely to be less than full. Additionally, South Korea’s Premier, K and J-League stars were not looking forward to playing on the artificial pitch in North Korea. The long grass of Shanghai is more welcome. Less pleasing for the southern defenders will be another battle with Jong Tae-se, North Korea’s new weapon. Jong scored a fine goal when the two teams meet just six weeks ago during the East Asian championships in the Chinese city of Chongqing. The Japan-based forward has been the subject of much attention. Captain Kim Nam-il faced Jong again last week in the J-league and has warned his team-mates that they will need to be on their toes. “We saw in the East Asian Cup what he is capable of and we need to watch him until the very end of the game.” Southern defender Kwak Tae-hwi was one of a number of players who was brushed aside by the powerful Jong as he scored his goal and the Chunnam Dragons star is determined to ensure that Jong does not repeat his success. “This time I will stop him,” Kwak told reporters in Paju before leaving for China on Sunday. “Then I was too late with my tackle. When you face strong and fast attacking players you have to concentrate at all times and make quick decisions.” Coach Huh Jung-moo has been making a few decisions of his own, naming no less than five players without any prior national team experience in the roster of 23. Even with all the greenhorns available, the boss is likely to turn to tried and trusted stars such as Park Ji-sung. The Manchester United star has made the flight east, following three other English-based players- Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham, Fulham’s Seol Ki-hyeon and West Brom’s Kim Do-heon. All four have struggled to get some serious playing time recently and will be fresh, though perhaps not as sharp as Huh would like. North Korea arrived in Shanghai on Monday and quickly sped away from the aiport on the bus. Coach Kim Jong-hun then led his players to the stadium for a behind-closed doors training session. Both teams are looking to build on wins collected in the opening round of games in this the third and penultimate stage of qualification for the 2010 World Cup. The 20 remaining teams have been divided into five groups of four. The top two from each group progress to the final round. Four Asian nations will head to South Africa while a fifth will play-off with a representative from the Oceania region – likely to be New Zealand. In the first game, South Korea thrashed Turkmenistan 4-0 in Seoul while the north won 1-0 in Jordan. orth Korea is not a team that concedes many goals and until recently, South Korea was not one that scored too many. Three of the four meetings between the two in the past decade have ended all square and it is a result that would be satisfactory to both sides once again on Wednesday. But in football you never know. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

It was a satisfactory six days for new South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo in the sprawling city of Chongqing. South Korea lifted the East Asian Championship trophy for the second time in three occasions. The opening day dramatic 3-2 victory over China was followed by 1-1 draws with North Korea on Wednesday and then Japan on Saturday. The trophy is not a big deal but the performances of a young and inexperienced team have been encouraging. There is still much work to do but a number of players have emerged from the haze of the polluted megapolis with reputations and confidence enhanced. Former Korea, and current Australia, coach Pim Verbeek was at the tournament to check out China. The Socceroos will be in the Middle Kingdom in March for a 2010 World Cup qualifier. The Dutchman was keeping quiet on the Chinese but was happy to see some familiar, and some not so familiar, Korean faces in action. "It was good to watch Korea again and it was good to see them win,” he told me. "I was quite impressed against China - I thought that they did a good job and played well." "There were lots of young players in the team. I am happy that Park Chu-young is fit and he scored two great goals. The first goal, he showed fantastic timing to head the ball into the net...hopefully he will be fit now for a whole season." That is unlikely. The striker has already been ruled out of FC Seoul's season opener on March 9 and will play no part in the game with LA Galaxy and David Beckham on March 1. As well as Park, Yeom Ki-hoon, who was handed his national team debut by Verbeek, showed his versatility in attack. The Ulsan forward scored the goals against North Korea and Japan and is starting to look like he may fulfill his undoubted potential. There is potential in the team that lifted the oversize trophy last Saturday but some of them are not yet, and perhaps never will be, good enough for international football. That is the whole point of these kinds of games however; it’s a time for testing and trying. March’s World Cup qualification game in Pyongyang will feature a very different line-up. There is virtually a completely new starting eleven that Huh could call on. English-based stars such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon will be certainties for the game. With that match due to played out in front of over 100,000 fans in the North Korean capital, Huh may go for experience. Other 2006 World Cup stars are also likely to be recalled - Lee Chun-soo of Dutch giants Feyenoord, Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho of Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg and Kim Do-heon of West Bromich Albion. Cho Jae-jin is another likely recall. The powerful striker ended his three-year stint in Japan last December and since then has spent much time in England trying to do deals with three English Premier League clubs, in order, Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Fulham. All came to naught and last week the powerful striker joined Jeonju team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ahead of the new season that kicks off on March 8. After three seasons and dozens of goals in Japan, Cho needs to show that he can score goals on the Korean peninsula. He struggled to do so in his first spell in the K-League prior to 2004 but a goal or two in Pyongyang at the end of March, wouldn’t go amiss. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek didn't quite measure up to his illustrious predecessor in charge of South Korea. On Wednesday night, Verbeek retried Guus Hiddink's shoes on for size as Australia mounted their maiden World Cup qualifying campaign through the AFC. If Verbeek's 3-0 victory over Qatar wasn't quite enough to prove the bulk of his doubters wrong, it must have gone mighty close. There will still be those - the cynics who harboured a personal preference of the shining CV of Omar (formally Philippe) Troussier over Hiddink's countryman and former assistant - who might remain unconvinced. Let's see how Verbeek's inevitably jetlagged Socceroos handle the altitude of southwestern city Kunming in their first AFC qualifier overseas against China next month, they might remark. But most of the 50,000-plus clad in the green and gold at the Telstra Dome in midweek, not to mention a host of interested TV viewers, will be jointly relieved and excited by a ruthless first-half display which saw the outgunned Qataris put to the sword in the opening 33 minutes. The first test of the unheralded Verbeek was always going to be his wider influence in the boardrooms of Europe's grandest. His sway over the often reluctant full-time employers of Tim Cahill and the like increased in magnitude when the Dutchman, in what has already become typical of his forthright style, discarded virtually every one of his original A-League contingent, labelling them not up to international standards. Only Queensland's Craig Moore made Verbeek's first starting XI, excelling alongside captain Lucas Neill in central defence. Although whether the former skipper and 2006 World Cup goalscorer is truly considered a member of the A-League gang is doubtful. In any case, Moore, 32, pulled the pin on his national team career immediately after the match. Verbeek also showed his ruthless streak in quietly electing not to call-up Harry Kewell - to surprisingly little fanfare - and then axing Norway-based defender Michael Thwaite after he'd already completed the arduous trip home. "I have better players in his position," was the coach's blunt assessment. "That’s the only reason. Michael did well at training and I really appreciated that he took the time and energy to come here but I have better players in his position. That’s football." It would take a narrow-minded individual not to spot Verbeek gently asserting his control over a notoriously big-headed bunch. Another absentee was Mark Viduka. The Newcastle United frontman played against Middlesbrough in the Premier League the Sunday previous with Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer proving the flight home possible by doing it himself. However, while Viduka's self-imposed international exile continues, Verbeek is not prepared to give up on him without a fight. The Dutchman made a public play for Viduka's future services in the wrap up of the Qatar victory and said he would fly to the north east in person to share a coffee and a chinwag. "Mark is always on the list," Verbeek clearly stated. "I would prefer to have five strikers to choose from and it's always better that players have a headache over fighting for their position than coaches have a headache." Viduka might be on his shortlist, but at 33 this year and with first team football under Kevin Keegan at Newcastle no certainty, Verbeek needed to trial Plan B and stylishly did so in Melbourne, Viduka's hometown. After toying with the idea of playing just one up front, he paired long-haired Karlsruher SC targetman Josh Kennedy with Scott McDonald, the stocky Celtic forward who hasn't stopped scoring in the SPL since moving to Glasgow in the off season. Kennedy headed the opener from Brett Emerton's whipped delivery while McDonald was a menace all night, supplying the low centre which Cahill dummied for Mark Bresciano to tuck away for the clincher. PSV's Jason Culina, in a holding midfield role, also received plaudits after the game, as did revitalised left-footer David Carney, now at Sheffield United in England's second tier. Kennedy and McDonald aside, the names weren't actually that different from the failed Asian Cup campaign last July. But the attitude was. However, with just one full training session to work with a group he'd mostly never before met, the nagging feeling about Verbeek's influence hasn't instantly gone away. The March 26 game in China is another non FIFA-designated matchday which means Verbeek will have a similarly limited time with his players to prepare. But at least for the next month or so he has, as Hiddink did before, Australia's goodwill behind him. Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com Australian Soccer News Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Not too long ago, sexy Korean pop sensation Lee Hyo-ri famously sang “just one ten minutes”. The sultry songstress suggested that she could score with any man within that period of time. After Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Chile, South Korea’s footballers would have to sing "just 51 ten minutes" as the national team’s scoring drought stretches to almost biblical proportions. Lee’s song was probably top of the charts when the Taeguk Warriors last hit the back of the net. While 90,000 Indonesians were present when Kim Jung-woo scored in Jakarta last July, there was only a select group of Korean witnesses. Soon, they could be sporting t-shirts that read “I saw Korea score.” It won’t be t-shirt weather on Wednesday night when Turkmenistan comes to Seoul for the hosts’ first game of the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign. It certainly wasn’t last week either when Chile coolly won 1-0 at a three-quarters empty Seoul World Cup Stadium in Huh Jung-moo’s first game back as coach. A young and inexperienced team, freezing weather and Korea's Olympic handball play-off with Japan had contrived to keep the fans away. The exhibition display, described as ‘toothless’ by most TV news stations, did little to warm those present . After 506 minutes of goalless football, there is little to be happy about as a Korean fan though Huh has promised a better performance on Wednesday. He could be right as Park Ji-sung, one of the few Koreans more famous than the ubiquitous Lee Hyo-ri, returns home to take control of the situation. Park was absent from the Asian Cup through injury, as was Tottenham’s Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon of Fulham, but now all three are fully fit and ready to go. There should be a full house despite the fact that Seoul almost empties during festivities that celebrate the Lunar New Year. Despite the lack of action in front of goal, the consolation is that Korea still managed to finish third at the Asian Cup and that the real action starts now. Failure to defeat a fairly physical, but rather limited, Turkmenistan team (ranked 128 in the world by FIFA, Korea are 41st) would put real pressure not only on the team but also the coach. At this moment, few care if the next goal comes from a Christiano Ronaldo-style super shot or if it hits the backside of captain Kim Nam-il and rolls over the line. Three points are what is needed if the Year of the Mouse is to start on a positive note. Also positive is the fact that the other two teams in the group are hardly Asia’s finest. It could have been much worse for Korea. Australia was drawn with China, Asian champions Iraq and Asian Games winners Qatar. Korea has, as well as the Turkmen, only North Korea and Jordan to worry about. After Wednesday night, the next game in the group, from which the top two progress to the final round of qualification, sees South Korea make the short trip to Pyongyang in March. That will certainly be an interesting trip both in football, and other, terms. It will be a much more comfortable trip for the Taeguk Warriors if they have three points under their belt. Whether that happens or not depends on Wednesday. Three years ago in the middle of the Lunar New Year holiday, Korea faced Kuwait in Seoul in another World Cup qualifier. Lee Young-pyo got the ball rolling that night, another sub-zero encounter, before a spectacular volley from Lee Dong-gook settled the encounter. The latter Lee is still banned from the national team after late-night drinking sessions at the Asian Cup but even he may raise a glass back in England if Korea’s first steps on the road to South Africa in 2010 turn out to be firm and steady. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile href="http://technorati.com/tag/soccer+news" rel="tag">Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting