South Korea keen to inspire Park
16 July 2012 08:21
South Korea's Olympic coach Hong Myung-Bo wants them to improve in order to get the best out of striker Park Chu-Young at the London Games.
The Arsenal man, who scored in Saturday's 2-1 warm-up victory over New Zealand's Under-23 side, is one of Korea's three over-age players for the Olympics, with the football competition beginning on July 26.
Hong told reporters at Incheon International Airport on Sunday that his side were better than he expected against New Zealand, although he has concerns over his defence and how to maximise Park's output.
"It is up to us to lift (Park's) ability to the maximum," Hong said.
"The physical fitness has been pulled up at 90 percent of their maximum, the strategic coordination at 80 percent. We will try making up for the shortages during the remaining days."
Korea has never won an Olympic medal in football and one of the side's key areas of concern is defence, where they looked shaky against New Zealand.
"It is true that our central defence isn't playing at a confident level, and we will try to help the players have more confidence," he said.
Korea has had to replace defender Jang Hyun-Soo with Kim Hyun-Sung due to injury.
