Overview

Korea Republic seeks to reclaim its glory in the 2013 East Asian Cup. Korea Republic, one of the most formidable asian countries in football, showed rather disappointing gameplay in the Asian final qualifying rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Although the team eventually did pass the preliminaries, the fans were unimpressed. The team tried to overcome this by shifting to Hong Myung-bo's leadership with the World Cup just a year left. 2013's East Asian Cup, is highly significant in that it is the debut for Hong Myung-bo's new national team. As the team's morales and public reputation stagnated after a SNS controversy involving the star player Ki Sung-yueng, the winning of this year's championships has almost become a necessity.

Head coach Hong Myung-bo selected a number of accomplished players playing in the K-League and the J-League. The result has become a team quite different from it's previous leadership, Choi Kang-hee. Among the players are Park Jong-woo and six other players who won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics under Hong Myung-bo. Including them, as many as 14 players in the team has played under his leadership, thereby facilitating short-term improvement for the head coach. It is intriguing how Kim Shin-wook, Lee Yong, Lee Seung-gi and Yeom Ki-hoon who all have boasted excellent performance in the K-league will blend into the new team.

Head Coach Hong Myung-bo

Hong Myung-bo was a star player known as one of Asia's top defenders when he ran in the fields. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Dick Advocaat, and proceeded on to prove his leadership in well-known competitions like 2007 AFC Asian Cup, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 Egypt FIFA U-20 World Cup, 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and 2012 London Olympics. He has gained a tremendous amount of spotlight when he won the first Olympics medal for football in Korean History. Having been trained as a coach in the Russian football club Anzhi Makhachkala led by Guus Hiddink and made the leader of the Korea Republic National Team, his first mission is to impress the dissatisfied fans. To do so, the champion title for the East Asian Cup is an essential need. It is also interesting how the head coach will handle his new position as the leader of the Korea Republic's national team.

Star Player Kim Shin-wook

In the new national team where most European leaguers isn't running together, Kim Shin-wook is the player with the best conditions. As a striker in the new team, he boasts a fine score record, having kicked nine goals in the K-Leauge Classic Season 2013(currently at 17 rounds). His stature of nearly two meters makes him a formidable post player, and his kicks are as intimidating to the opposing team. It is expected that he will become the inevitable main target for opposing defenders. Until now, however, he hasn't made much impression in the national team. After making his debut in the national team, he spent time both on the field and on the bench for 13 matches, but only scored a single goal, which is a discouraging performance compared to his achievements in the K-League. It is speculated that the East Asian Cup will be his first championship as a key player in the national team since his debut in it. We will wait to see how he will make use of this great opportunity.