The best result that the Korean national football team has ever produced at the Olympics is reaching the quarterfinals. In its first appearance at the quadrennial Games, Korea beat Mexico 5-3 to reach the quarterfinals at London 1948. And by drawing on the talent of the successful 2002 World Cup squad, Korea reprised the feat at Athens 2004, also making the last eight.
This summer, Manager Hong Myung-bo’s team is aiming for a top-three finish to claim an Olympic medal in London. Sixteen teams are divided into four groups at the Games, with the top two finishers from each group advancing to the quarterfinals.
Currently, 10 teams have secured their berths — Korea, host England, Spain, Switzerland, Belarus, Brazil, Uruguay, Egypt, Gabon, and Morocco. Japan and the United Arab Emirates are also strong candidates to book the final spot available from Asia. This will be awarded to the winner of the intercontinental playoff between Africa’s fourth finisher, Senegal, and an Asian team yet to be determined on April 12. The group draw will take place at Wembley Stadium in London on April 24.
Until now, groups were formed based on the skill level of the team and geographical balance. It is likely that Korea will be in the same group with teams from Europe, Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Korea was grouped with Italy, Cameroon, and Honduras.
The best scenario would be to avoid strong European teams such as Spain, No.1 in the current FIFA rankings, and Latin American teams like Uruguay and Brazil, which rank No. 4 and No. 7, respectively.
Given their relatively low rankings and minnow status, Belarus and Morocco would also be considered a very lucky combination for Korea.
Meanwhile, a number of the strongest footballing nations in the world have failed to advance to the Olympic tournament this year, including Argentina, winner of the last two Games, Italy, Germany and France.
The matches will take place for 17 days from July 26 to Aug. 11.
englishnews / Feb. 24, 2012 10:31 KST
