South Korea face Russian onslaught

OUT-of-sorts South Korea face a Russia side desperate to prove a point in Cuiaba later tonight.

The Koreans' fortunes have nosedived since 2002 when they turned the form book on its head by becoming the first Asian side to make it through to the World Cup semifinals.

But before reaching their eighth consecutive World Cup, they struggled in qualifying, squeaking home only on goal difference.

They also lost World Cup warm-ups to Tunisia, 1-0, and more worryingly a 4-0 drubbing by Ghana last week. Coach Hong Myung-Bo insists that rather than regressing, the Korean team have made progress in the last 12 years.

"The fact is that the quality of football in South Korea has developed a lot since 2002," he declared.

The Koreans arrived in Cuiaba on Sunday, 24 hours before Russia.

And before a training session at a university, defender Lee Yong took time out to forecast what lay in store for him and his colleagues.

"It's true the Russian team are quite technical and strong. Maybe the Russians are physically stronger than Asian sides like us but we are well prepared for this game, we're focused," he said.

Unlike the Koreans, who are part of recent World Cup history's fixture and fittings, Russia make their return to the feast of football for the first time since 2002, when, like in 1994, they failed to make it out of the group stages.

Under Fabio Capello, who guided England to the last 16 in South Africa four years ago, Russia coasted through qualifying and in stark contrast to today's opposition, are unbeaten in 10 games.

They hold a psychological advantage going into the game at the Arena Pantanal as they saw off South Korea 2-1 in a friendly in Dubai in November.

Veteran defender Vasily Berezutskiy says the 2018 World Cup hosts are in Brazil to set the record straight.

"We have things to prove in this World Cup," the CSKA Moscow player said at the weekend. – AFP