Ki Sung-Yueng plays down high South Korea expectations

10 April 2012

Midfielder Ki Sung-yueng has played down thoughts South Korea could replicate their stunning run to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Led by Guus Hiddink, the Taeguk Warriors surpassed all expectations to top their group and then claimed famous wins over Italy and Spain before seeing their run halted by Germany in the last four.

South Korea failed to make the knock-out stage of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, although they did secure their first win on foreign soil with a 2-1 win over Togo.

This time they have been drawn in a tough Group B with Argentina, former European champions Greece and Nigeria and Celtic midfielder Ki warned Korean fans not to necessarily expect a run like they enjoyed eight years ago.

"Since Korea got to the semi-final in 2002, many people expect the same result," he said on Celtic's official website. "No-one in Korea expected the national team to go to the semi-final so now the expectations are too much.

"But we will try our best and our squad is getting stronger. If we try our best we can qualify for the group stage and then who knows, we could maybe go onto the quarter final."

Ki made the switch from Korean side FC Seoul to Celtic in January and made an impressive start to life at Parkhead by being named man of the match on his debut against Falkirk.

The 21-year-old went on to make 10 appearances for the Hoops and he believes the experience he has gained from playing in Scotland could prove beneficial at the World Cup.

"Coming to Celtic this year has really helped me prepare for competitions like the World Cup," added Ki.

"I have never been to Africa so this will be my first trip and also my first World Cup. I will probably be very nervous in the first game, but I have some experience from playing at Celtic and also in Korea so I will try my best."

South Korea begin their group campaign against Greece in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in