Veteran defender seeking better collective effort vs. Egypt

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- In response to criticism against South Korea's subpar defense in the recent series of friendly matches, veteran center back Kim Young-gwon said Monday the team's defenders are focusing on cleaning up their collective effort.

"Football is a game made up of mistakes, and we've always been working on minimizing tactical mistakes as a unit, rather than focusing on individual errors," Kim said at an online press conference Monday, the eve of South Korea's friendly against Egypt in Seoul.

It will be the fourth and final friendly match for South Korea this month in their buildup to the FIFA World Cup in November. They lost to Brazil 5-1 on June 2 and then beat Chile 2-0 four days later. In the third match Friday, South Korea battled back from a two-goal deficit for a 2-2 draw against Paraguay.

Kim, who faced Brazil and Paraguay, has been without his usual, trusted center back partner Kim Min-jae, who did not get called up after undergoing ankle surgery.

"Min-jae is obviously an important player, but we need to be prepared to compete without him," Kim Young-gwon said. "We've been trying to make sure we don't feel his absence too much."

South Korea have experienced a wide range of issues on defense, whether it's lack of discipline against the high pressing of Brazil or it's some shaky transition defense against Paraguay. But Kim stressed that there have been some positive aspects as well.

"We have to keep trying to minimize mistakes as we get ready for the World Cup," Kim said. "Guys have been talking to each other quite a bit and with the coaching staff as well."

As for his objective against Egypt, Kim said, "We want to be able to execute everything we've been working on in training."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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