Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Sydney: Korea Republic captain Ki Sung-yueng has set his sights on winning the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 to ensure he and his team mates can establish themselves as the continent’s leading football nation.
Korea have not won the AFC Asian Cup since the second of their two title wins in 1960, a disappointing return for a country that has qualified for every FIFA World Cup since 1986, and Ki is determined to set things right when the Taeguk Warriors take on Australia in Sydney on Saturday.
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“Before I came to this competition, I really wanted to win,” said the Swansea City midfielder.
“We always say Korean football is one of the best in Asia because we always went to the World Cup, and we went to semi-finals and qualified from group stages, but on the other hand we never won the Asian Cup which Japan and Saudi Arabia have won more than us.
“So it’s a bit weird and a little bit of a shame for ourselves that we never proved that we are the biggest team in Asia. This is a great opportunity for me and for my team mates to show to people that we can be the champions.
“I think we had a lot of injured players during the competition and we had a lack of experienced players and young players so people in Korea maybe they didn’t expect that we would reach the final.
“Of course there’s pressure but we don’t have anything to lose in this, and maybe Australia has more to lose than us. It’s already a great opportunity, maybe once in a life time.”
Ki has become an established member of the Korea national team set-up since making his debut for his country in 2008 and was finally made captain upon the appointment of German coach Uli Stielike, replacing Koo Ja-cheol.
“As captain, I’m not the oldest in the team,” he said. “There are more senior players in the team like Cha Du-ri and Kwak Tae-hwi. I’m getting a lot of support from these players in order to be mentally stronger.
“As you know, we have a lot of young players with little experience of the national team and I hope with my experience I can help these players come forward in difficult conditions and they can get my support during the games and off the pitch as well.
“I think players like Kwak or Cha are actually leading this group to become mentally stronger and I have to show my best to become a leader in the team and perform well and get respect from the other players.”
FC Seoul defender Cha, who was a team mate of Ki’s during his time in Scotland with Celtic, will be playing his last game for the Korea national team should he start against the Australians and Ki praised the veteran for the service he has shown to Korean football throughout an illustrious career.
“I played with him in Celtic and the national team for a few years,” said Ki. “He’s been with the Korea national team for 14, 15 years. Physically he’s one of the strongest players I’ve ever seen and he’s the quickest player I’ve played with, especially when he was with Celtic when he was a little bit younger, he was quicker than the ball.
“When I play with him I’m comfortable, when I give the pass a little bit longer he gets the ball. He contributes his quality to the national team very much. Every time he participated in the World Cup, he was in the semifinals or qualified from the group stage in 2010.
“I think we have to respect him for what he has done for the Korea national team and tomorrow (Saturday) everyone in this team wants to give him a big lift because it’s his last game and give him the gift of becoming champion of Asia.”
Photo: WSG