Korea Republic start their preparation for the World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign with one of the strongest Asian sides set to welcome under strength Serbia side. Despite being in the midst of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, coach Vladimir Petrovic opted to leave his key players out of the side so as to test some unproven players.

Korea looking good

Ever since they made it to 2002 World Cup semi-finals to the shock of the footballing world, Korea have proved their credentials as one of the top national teams and they continue to do well on all fronts. Following the good performances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Korea managed to finish 3rd in the Asian Cup, after being eliminated by Japan on penalties in the semi-final. The team have since played two friendly games, sharing spoils with Turkey away and beating Honduras 4:0 at home, which goes to show Cho Kwang-Rae’s side are in impressive form at the moment. While the boss will also be looking to test several uncapped players, he will still be able to field a very string side, with 12 players plying their trade in Europe included in the squad.

Auxerre striker Jung Jo-Guk and Wolfsburg’s Koo Ja-Cheol are two of the uncapped players in the squad, while star players Cha Du-Ri, Lee Chung-Yong, Ki Sung-Yong and Park Chu-Young are also in the side.

Petrovic serves up surprises

We can now safely say that Serbia have been on the downtrend over the last few years even though a big portion of the squad plies their trade in some of the best teams in Europe. The Eagles have had a very poor start of the Euro 2012 qualifiers under Vladimir Petrovic and all that’s left for them is to fight for the second place in the group with Slovenia. To the surprise of Serbian public, the boss decided to leave most of the starters out of the squad and called no less than 9 players from weak Serbian league, as well as few other uncapped players. The games against Korea and Australia will serve as a great opportunity for these players to gain some international experience, but result wise, there is no chance that this Serbia squad will be able to match exciting Korea side.

Star players Vidic, Ivanovic, Krasic, Zigic, Ninkovic, Pantelic, Milijas and Sulejmani are all left out.

Verdict

South Korea have been in great for of late and they certainly have enough quality to continue the great run of results, especially as Serbia will be severely weakened in this clash. The visitors enter this match without most of the first team regulars and are likely to be punished for that.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 2.15 (23/20)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power