South Korea Sweat Over Top Striker

South Korea Sweat Over Top Striker

* Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 6:32
In spite of the best-ever talent pool for the upcoming World Cup, South Korean manager Huh Jung-moo is likely to have a daunting task in forming his squad following the unexpected injury of its key striker.

Lee Dong-gook was told Monday he will be out for up to three weeks after a medical checkup. The Jeonbuk Motors striker injured his right hamstring Sunday during South Korea’s friendly match with Ecuador at Seoul’s Sangam Stadium.

This setback will rule him out of the three friendlies scheduled for the national team, let alone the training sessions, before South Korea’s first match against Greece on June 12.

In a worst case scenario, he might be sidelined throughout South Korea’s first-round group matches, putting a huge dent in Huh’s offensive options against Argentina, Nigeria, as well as Greece.

Lee was still included in the 26-man roster, which was unveiled Monday. Huh said he has decided to watch him until June 1, the deadline for submitting the final 23-strong World Cup roster to FIFA.
“He is absolutely necessary in our team,” Huh said.

The 31-year-old forward, who scored 25 goals in his 83 A-match appearances, missed out on the past two World Cups because of injuries.

Some critics say he pushed himself too hard to try and make it to South Africa, even though a hamstring problem was detected last month.

Lee has been working himself over this year. He joined the national team’s overseas training camp in South Africa and Spain in January and also played at the East Asian Championship in Japan the next month.

Soon after that, he played in all of Jeonbuk’s 10 K-League matches and five of the team’s seven matches at the Asian Football Confederation Champions League.

Playing in the Ecuador match was part of an overly rigorous schedule. Just four days before the game, Lee made a trip to Australia to play Jeonbuk’s round-of-16 match against Adelaide United.

National team doctor Song Jun-seop said Lee’s injury is not a serious threat to his World Cup campaign. “His hamstring muscle has been minutely injured, and he will be able to be back on the pitch within seven to 10 days with the help of treatment from the medical staff here,” he said.

Still, a contingency plan for his absence will be a distraction to manager Huh, as another key attacker, Park Chu-young, is suffering from a thigh injury he picked up in a match playing for his current team AS Monaco of France.

Lee’s role as a target man is regarded as unique in the squad. Earlier this year, Huh said he wouldn’t consider another striker for that part if he doesn’t find a suitable player.

Other than Lee and Park, four forwards ? Lee Keun-ho, Lee Seung-yeoul, Yeom Ki-hun and Ahn Jung-hwan ? are currently vying for their spots in the final roster, with four or five of them expected to make the final list.