By Ebenezer Zor.
Source: Ghanaian Times
The Stars thrashed the Red Devils of Congo 3-1 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in a 2012 Nations Cup qualifier on Friday.
The clash will be the fourth meeting between the two nations and will see the Koreans playing without their most influential play maker, Ji Sung Park.
Park, was a mere passenger in the Manchester United set up that lost 1-3 in the final match of the UEFA champions league competition against FC Barcelona at the Wembley Stadium in England.
The announcement of his resignation from international career will spell doom for the Koreans who would have counted on his rich experience to face the Ghanaian arsenal.
The absence of Park who is supposed to play a pivotal role for the for the Koreans, the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ will be a setback for Coach Cho Kwang-Rae, but it would be a moment of joy for Stars Coach Goran Stevanovic because of the return of Chelsea’s matador Michael Essien.
The Stars with a good head-to-head count over the Koreans, having won two games and drawn one in the last meetings, will go into the duel as favourites.
However, the Koreans- who were co-host of the 2002 World Cup and placed fourth, will bank on players like Lee Chung- Yong (Bolton Wanderers) in England, Cha Du-Ri (Celtic) in Scotland, Jung Jo- Gook (Auxerre) in France, could pose a severe threat to the Stars.
But Stars coach, Stevanovic will rely on his formidable team consisting of the likes of skipper John Mensah (Sunderland), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese), Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland) and the others to do the magic for the nation.
Having participated in eight World Cup finals and becoming the first and only Asian team to reach the semifinals, in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Koreans may want to come into the game with the solidarity intention of getting the better side of the four-time African champions.
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