Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Canberra: Veteran Korea Republic full-back Cha Du-ri cautioned against complacency ahead of Tuesday’s AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 match against Kuwait at Canberra Stadium, warning the match will be “totally different” from the West Asians’ 4-1 defeat by Australia.
Last Friday, former champions Kuwait took a shock lead against the Socceroos before shipping four goals to the hosts and now must achieve a positive result against Korea, who edged out Oman 1-0 on Saturday in Canberra.
And Cha, who replaced the injured Kim Chang-soo after 19 minutes against Oman, is convinced that the heavy defeat by Australia will spark a reaction from Kuwait and they will provide a testing opponent for Korea in Australia’s capital.
“After losing such a game, Kuwait will come into our match with a different spirit and are sure to be very aggressive,” said Cha, the son of legendary Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen striker Cha Bum-kun.
“After playing the first game you begin to catch the rhythm of the game and you start to get used to the tournament, so I guess it will be a totally different game from the first game that they played.
“In my previous experience in the national team when we’ve played Kuwait, they always defend and play us on the counterattack. When they utilise the counterattack they are normally very fast between the transition between defence and attack, and you can’t do that with just one or two players, it’s the whole team we need to take care of.
“Thinking of one or two key players is not right; we have to think about how the fast transition in the counterattack will affect us as a team.”
Previously on the books of Frankfurt and Celtic, Cha was a member of the Korea team during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup that ended in their semi-final exit on penalties to arch-rivals Japan, and while that defeat still hurts, the 34-year-old feels that the experience gained from that campaign will put his team in good stead for the tournament in Australia.
“What happened four years ago was a big pity for us because losing the semi-finals on penalties is very tough,” recalled Cha, who was also selected in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup squad.
“At that time we had a very good squad, very balanced, with very experienced players and young, hungry players.
“I think that with those young, talented players, four years have passed and they have gained a lot of experience. Throughout the tournament there’s always going to be some moments with difficulties, and with these young players that have now gained a lot of experience, I think this will add a lot of value to the team when we suffer such difficulties whether it’s in the quarter-final, semi-final or even final.”
The elder statesman of the team, with over 70 international caps, Cha’s appearance against Oman was a milestone for Korean football at the AFC Asian Cup, as the player became the oldest to turn out for the national side at the continental championship.
At 34 years and 178 days old, Cha beat the record of retired goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae, who participated in the 2007 Asian Cup at the age of 34 years and 102 days.
“I feel kind of weird and also at the same time proud of breaking this record. There’s no secret to it really, I don’t feel that old really! If you eat well, sleep well, think in a positive way, live happy, then this all affects your performance,” said Cha.
“However, we are in the middle of a tournament, I don’t have time to think about these minor issues, I want to help my team-mates so we can strive in the end to win this competition.”