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Improved K-league crucial for future Korean success
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-24 16:52 South Korea will leave the World Cup confident that despite a first-round exit, it has made some strides of improvement.
Its bitter 2-0 loss against Switzerland also made it evident for the 2002 World Cup semifinalist that there is still plenty of work remaining.
South Korea failed in its bid to advance out of the group stage for the first time in six World Cups outside Asia. And Dick Advocaat's team also could not dispel critics who claimed the Koreans only reached the final four in 2002 because they were playing at home. Still, their Germany 2006 run had some milestones. Ahn Jung-hwan's game-winning goal against Togo handed South Korea its first-ever World Cup victory on foreign soil. And the Red Devils drew 1-1 with 1998 world champion France - just five years after losing 5-0 to Les Bleus. "South Koreans can be very proud of this team," Advocaat said after the disappointing loss. "We gained four points at the World Cup outside our country. We showed to many more people that we are getting better," Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lee Young-pyo added. |
