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Park Chu-young or Kim Shin-wook on top?

March 3, 2014

S. Korean National team’s striker position still up for grabs

heading into friendly against Greece in Athens Wednesday

Park Chu-young, left, and Kim Shin-wook will get plenty of looks on Wednesday's friendly against Greece. (Yonhap)

Park Chu-young, left, and Kim Shin-wook will get plenty of looks on Wednesday’s friendly against Greece. (Yonhap)

By Kim Tong-hyung

Kim Shin-wook seems to exist in his own version of “Groundhog Day,” where certain themes, such as doubts about his ability to frontline Korea’s World Cup team, recur with unfortunate predictability.

It was just months ago when the towering Ulsan Hyundai striker appeared to be gaining the trust of Korea manager Hong Myung-bo as the target man in his favored 4-2-3-1 formation.

But Hong, who just couldn’t fully commit to Kim as the focal point of his attack, has put Watford veteran Park Chu-young back in the picture, and the younger player finds himself back in a position where he has to prove himself all over again.

Korea’s friendly against Greece in Athens on Wednesday (PST) will be its last tune-up match before the World Cup opener against Russia in June.

Hong, who will announce his World Cup roster in May, appears to have settled on his starters at most positions, but striker has been the glaring exception.

Expect Kim and Park to both get plenty of action against Greece and to compete to impress.

Talking to reporters before departing for Athens, Kim offered high praise for Park, the 28-year-old started for Korea’s World Cup teams in 2006 and 2010.

However, it still seems as Kim’s job to lose unless Park manages to prove he is anywhere close to his prime.

Arriving on loan from Arsenal last month, Park has been struggling to find minutes with Watford, a middling team in the English second-division Championship League.

Unlike Park, the 25-year-old Kim seems to be just entering his best years as an athlete. But while he is feared as a frontline predator in the domestic league, Kim has yet to prove he has the skills to be relevant at the highest level of international football.

“In Park, we are getting a true, center forward-type player” Kim said.

“It’s hard to pick a weakness in Park’s game. I have a lot to learn from him, such as how he initiates an attack on the break and how he creates and exploits space.

“I want to improve as a player. I want to be productive on the field and show better chemistry with my teammates and find ways to make each other better on the field. I will give it my best.”

Perhaps, Kim’s reputation as a player unfairly suffers from the immense expectations inspired by his rare combination of size, strength and athleticism.

Built like a basketball power forward at 1.97 meters and 93 kilograms, Kim does bring plenty of intrigue.

But while his prolific scoring rate in the domestic league suggests he has the skills to exploit his frame, Kim has struggled to find the ideal balance between aggressiveness and composure at the international level, looking jumpy in some matches and drifting in and out in others.

While there’s no denying that Kim has been underachieving at the international level, it’s debatable whether it has been entirely his fault.

Hong had previously expressed frustration that Kim’s teammates on the national team are failing to deliver him the ball when and where he wants it.

He wondered whether Kim’s towering presence inspires his teammates to punt the ball in his direction instead of creating better scoring opportunities.

Despite his height advantage, Kim has always been a player who is more comfortable finishing with his feet than head.

While Kim’s abilities might have been underrated, it also seems clear he is a lesser player than Park was at similar age.

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 Son Heung-min, Lee Chung-yong and Ki Sung-yeung, as they engineered Hong’s bronze medal-winning team in the 2012 London Olympics.

Son, Lee and Ki now form the core of Hong’s senior national team and Park is out to prove he is capable of joining them.

At the World Cup finals in Brazil, Korea has been grouped with Belgium, Algeria and Russia in Group H. Korea will open its action against Russia on June 17.