Dick Advocaat Interview
John Duerden interviews South Korea's Coach
As one can imagine, Dick Advocaat was busy just before the South
Korean national team departed to Scotland in order to continue the
team’s World Cup preparations but he still found time to talk
to Soccerphile about his eight months in the Land of the Morning
Calm.
Will you miss Korea?
Yes – definitely.
What will you miss?
The kindness of the people. The discipline of the people, friendly
people. I think we have all enjoyed it from the moment we arrived
until now. We have had a great time.
How about Korean food - do you have a favourite?
I have to be honest. We didn’t eat a lot of Korean food. I
have had soup – noodle soup. That was all. Most of the time
we are eating Western food.
How about kimchi?
No – (laughs). I saw it. The players really, really like it
but not me – I passed on it.
It’s supposed to be one of the healthiest foods in
the world.
Yes. I definitely think that part of our success is because of kimchi
(laughs)
Before you came to Korea, what was your impression of the
players and football?
First of all, to get the chance to become involved in the World
Cup is great. By far the biggest advantage was Pim
Verbeek (assistant coach in 2002 and 2006). He still knew most
of the squad because he was still talking to you and other people
in this country so he knew what was going on with the players.
We knew that the confidence was quite low. We always said to each
other ‘we still have six, seven or eight players from 2002,’
we knew that there were some talented players and then we still
have the experience that I have and that Pim has - Afshin
Ghotbi (also an assistant coach in 2002 and 2006) came later
- first it was Pim and myself and we wanted Afshin to join us) but
the first meeting was with Sam Ka and Pim and myself.
We knew what we were doing and had to do and we knew that Afshin
would come too, we have an excellent staff. So far that’s
the best choice I’ve ever made – except Afshin (laughs
and Afshin, who is sat nearby, laughs also)
What was your first impression when you arrived?
The good thing was the players knew I was coming and already knew
a lot about me – the respect was already there and also there
for Pim, Afshin and Hong Myung-bo. We saw that they looked up to
us. The training was unbelievable – the first couple of days
was unbelievable, the players worked so hard.
We started telling them about that if we can be together then we
can have a strong team. We did lots of talking about getting results
and becoming united, not only with the squad but with the press
and with the fans.
Before you came here, you didn’t know too much about
the players?
Nothing
…so how did you go about putting your first squad
together?
Well. We had to talk to a lot of people from the KFA committee,
committee members and we had been watching all the games before
we arrived, not one time but several times. That was an indication,
the K-League
was an indication and previous lists were an indication. I talked
to Bo, Afshin and Pim and that brought us to the team.
What do you think of the K-League?
I am not so impressed with the K-League.
What are the problems and how can they be improved?
I think there is a lot that can be improved. The majority of people
here are crazy about football. That is the basis, the people love
football. In that way, the future for Korean football can be very,
very nice. If you use the right tools to develop that then I think
Korea can be a force in world football. I know that you have opinions
on how to improve things and the way it is being dealt with now,
in my opinion, is not good but I don’t think now is the right
time for me to express my ideas.
When you chose the World Cup squad, how did you tell the
players that they were selected?
We didn’t. We sent them a letter.
How about those on stand-by?
We sent them a letter as well. They still belong to the 28 best
players of Korea. Unfortunately, at this moment, they’re not
invited but anything can still happen.
Some of the European-based players like Ahn Jung-hwan, Cha
Du-ri and Seol Ki-hyeon didn’t have very good seasons so why
were Ahn and Seol selected but not Cha?
First of all with Ahn,
I saw all the games in 2002, I’ve seen him often on tape.
I think that he was a very important member of the 2002 team and
the goals he scored. He played for us and I thought that he had
the quality to do something for us with the other strikers.
Cha was a little bit of a problem. He was playing right full-back
for his club and I think we already have better right full-backs
than Cha Du-ri. As a winger, well, we have four wingers who can
play on the left and the right side, good young talented players.
We wanted to keep the players that are playing every week and who
also joined us on tour.
How much do you know about Togo?
In principle, we know everything. Togo will start playing with their
line-up sometime over the next 14 days. In the African Nations Cup
they played their strongest line-up, we have all the tapes, the
committee members went and my own scouts went.
So when we start against Togo, we know every system, all the individuals,
they are no surprise for us. On the other hand – it’s
probably a case of vice-versa.
On paper, Togo is the easiest game…
That’s where we make the biggest mistake we can do because
I think that it’s the most difficult game.
Why?
Because of the expectations of Togo
is not that high. But it is the first game for us and the first
game for Togo. They’ll be full of confidence that if they
win that they can go on and do better. It’s better to play
them in the last game.
Will your message to the players be different before the
Togo game compared to France and Switzerland?
Yes – confidence is good but overconfidence is not good. We
will tell them that this is a very important game and we have played
against Senegal, Ghana
and Angola
and you can compare with them and there are no easy games.
For France and Switzerland it will be the opposite situation…
For a coach, France
and Switzerland
is easier because they know that they are better.
How confirmed is the starting line-up?
It’s not decided yet. If somebody impresses in the next week
or two, then they can break into the team. You have eight or nine
players that you know are going to play. In my mind there are two
players who have to fight for their position.
And they are…?
(Laughs)
Regarding the goalkeepers, the two understudies Kim Young-kwang
and Kim Yong-dae have never played for you.
No because I still think there’s a difference between Lee
Woon-jae and the other goalkeepers. But with the way the keepers
are doing now, they are growing and the gap is becoming closer and
closer.
Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to play one of the
understudies before in a big game situation?
It’s always a possibility.
There have been reports that Lee Woon-jae isn’t completely
fit.
Really? The media always tries to find something, but he’s
completely fit and happy. He’s a real captain.
Is it a good idea to have a goalkeeping captain? Is the
Korean team too quiet to have somebody else?
You can’t change a player’s character. If he’s
not speaking and you say ‘you have to speak’, it doesn’t
work. If you speak on the pitch, it comes from your heart and soul,
that’s who you are. Age or colour doesn’t matter, you
have to help each other, coach each other, talk to each other.
It was said that in the past that some of the players felt
uncomfortable talking to older players on and off the pitch.
We were so surprised with the way they get on with each other. Even
at the table at meal-times, they are laughing, in Hiddink’s
time, they were not laughing. Now they are enjoying themselves,
in that way, you can see what has changed in four years time through
the influence of foreigners and foreign coaches etc.
Why did you choose Scotland for a training camp?
It’s a beautiful country, there’s a real football atmosphere.
We are training on one of the best training centers in Europe.
You helped to design it…
Of course, I hope all my pictures are still hanging in the corridor
but I don’t think so! (laughs) We can work properly, condition
our players, the pitches are excellent. I could also go to Holland
but I thought it was a better idea to go to Scotland.
And you play Ghana in Edinburgh. Who chooses the friendly
opponents?
It depends on what we can get. Not everybody is prepared to come
to Korea. I always like to play against teams that are participating
in the World Cup because like us, they are in the middle of preparation
time. Other teams can play hard and they don’t care at all
about what happens.
It’s good to play against other World Cup teams, they are
looking for the same things and it’s much easier. We meet
the Korean Football Association (KFA) and talk about opponents.
The KFA have been unbelievable, the co-operation between the staff
and the KFA has been really, really excellent.
Your predeccesor Jo Bonfrere complained about that…
Not us. As head coach I am very happy with the cooperation.
Recently the Togo Coach said certain things about the Korean
team. How do you feel when you hear those kinds of remarks?
He also made some strange remarks about the German
team as well. All well-respected coaches would never say the
things that he is saying. He is probably in the opposite situation
to us as we discussed earlier. You must always respect your opponent.
It says more about the coach…
What’s the main difference between coaching the Korean
national team and the Netherlands national team?
I talk to the Korean players through a translator. I can talk to
Dutch players direct so that’s easier. Dutch players like
to express their opinion. Korean players will follow what you say,
they are very obedient and I like that.
If you become a club coach again, would you like to sign
Korean players?
I can now understand why Mr. Hiddink took Korean players with him.
He enjoyed working with them.
Why? What is good about Korean players?
They never give up. They go until the end. The coach of Senegal
(Korea had drawn 1-1 with Senegal two days earlier) said the right
words about the game. He said there are some excellent parts to
Korea – it was a very strong Korean side and a very poor Korean
side. I can understand why he said that.
That’s true but I let it go that way. Normally, I would change
something and then you see a better balanced team. I didn’t
do it because that was not our purpose. He was right, there were
some excellent moments, we are very quick with the counter-attacks,
we like to pressurise and have a lot of energy and if we use it
the right way then we have a team that fights so hard and is difficult
to break down.
How about weak points?
(Long pause)… Everybody has their weak points, us too but
that’s for the opponents to find out.
You have been labelled a defensive coach by some parts of
the media, maybe because of your famous substitution in Euro 2004
during the Czech-Holland game – how do you feel about that?
If you see what I’ve done in 58 games with the Netherlands
national team, I have an excellent record, winning wise and scoring
wise, also with PSV, we scored a lot of goals.
With the Czech game, we were well-organised defensively and caused
them many problems with our counter attacks, we were the better
team. I still think it was the right decision but the problem was
that we lost after leading 2-0.
That changed the atmosphere totally, the atmosphere was already
rotten before …
With the team?
Not with the team or with the squad but the relationship between
the media and myself. It had been rotten for six months or a year
before.
How would you like to be remembered in Korea?
I don’t care, as long as people see me as honest and straight.
Not many can say that in the Dutch press but I can say that I am
honest and straight.
If you had your time again, would you do anything differently?
I would take different staff (by this time Pim
Verbeek is here and they all laugh). No, it has been a great
honour. Maybe we will continue, you never know in life.
That’s possible?
I think that’s still possible, it’s still open. From
the moment we arrived we have had a great time – with each
other, the players, the co-operation with the KFA. I have no regrets.
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