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Park Chu-young back in World Cup mix

February 19, 2014
Alarmed by his team’s lack of offensive production as the World Cup finals near, Korea’s national football team manager Hong Myung-bo has decided to add Watford forward Park Chu-young to his squad. (Yonhap)

Alarmed by his team’s lack of offensive production as the World Cup finals near, Korea’s national football team manager Hong Myung-bo has decided to add Watford forward Park Chu-young to his squad. (Yonhap)

By Kim Tong-hyung

A disappointing European football career looks to be winding down for Korean forward Park Chu-young, now reduced to a benchwarmer in the English second division.

But he is significantly more valuable to Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo, alarmed by his team’s lack of offensive production as the World Cup finals near.

In an announcement that felt like the inevitable becoming reality, Hong on Monday named Park to his squad for a March 6 friendly against Greece. The game in Athens has been circled as a critical tune-up match as Hong had said he will decide on his final roster for Brazil soon after.

A passionate advocate of defense-minded football, Hong appears to have settled on a backline anchored by defenders Hong Jeong-ho and Kim Young-gwon and protected by a central-midfield axis of Ki Sung-yeung and Han Kook-young.

The attacking unit, however, continues to be a work in progress. While Hong has an abundance of wide attackers and distributors, a group highlighted by Europe-based players such as Sohn Heung-min and Lee Chung-yong, the team has been lacking a finisher up front.

Hong had experimented with the towering Kim Shin-wook and the diminutive but speedy Lee Keun-ho at striker. If Park is anywhere close to his prime, it could be argued he is a better option than both of them. But that remains a big ”if.’’

Arriving on loan from Arsenal, where he had been stuck in Arsene Wenger’s doghouse, Park made his first appearance for Championship club Watford earlier this month, his first game action in nearly 100 days. However, the 29-year-old didn’t play a single minute in the four games since.

Aside of Park, another interesting name on Hong’s roster for the Greece match was Cha Du-ri, veteran defender and son of Korean football great Cha Bum-kun, who represented Korea in the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. While Cha is no spring chicken at the age of 34, Hong believes his combination of size, strength and speed will provide value.

”I think the Greece match is the last real chance we can test players before finalizing the roster for Brazil. I will be keeping a close eye on Park during training and also his play during the Greece match before deciding whether to include him on the Brazil squad,’’ Hong told reporters at the Korea Football Association headquarters in Seoul.

”Cha has been playing well in the domestic professional league and I want to have good players in the fullback position, where the competition among players to make the roster seems to be the hardest at the moment.’’

Since Hong took the management helm in June after the final round of World Cup qualifiers, the Taeguk Warriors have been stuck on a treadmill of mediocrity, scoring 13 goals and conceding 17 in 13 matches.

It’s debatable whether Park, who represented Korea on the 2006 and 2010 World Cup teams, can make a difference. While it’s clear the world has already seen the best of him, some evaluators argue that Park is still a better option than the medium talent with which Hong has experimented.

During his better days, Park showed a nose for the net and an uncanny ability to win balls in the air and hold them until support arrived. He also displayed good chemistry with Europe-based players such as Sohn, Lee and Ki, who now form the core of the senior national team.

Against Greece, expect Park to show an eagerness to prove his worth.

At the World Cup finals in Brazil, Korea has been grouped with Belgium, Algeria and Russia in Group H.