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South Korea, one of
Nigeria’s opponents at the fast approaching World Cup in South Africa,
have been dealt a cruel blow after defender Tae-hwi Kwak picked up an
injury in Sunday’s international friendly against Belarus.

The 28-year-old
central defender damaged the ligaments on his left knee following an
aerial contest in the 32nd minute of the match played in Austria, and
the prognosis is it will take at least four weeks for the injury to
heal completely, robbing him of the chance of playing at the World Cup,
which gets underway on June 11.

It was a painful
setback in many ways for South Korean manager, Jung-moo Huh, as the
Taeguk Warriors went on to lose the game 1-0 to the Belarusians who
grabbed the only goal of the tie eight minutes into the second half
through Sergey Kisliak.

Filling the gap

The Korean coach on
Monday, however said he will fill up the gap now created by Kwak’s exit
with either Suwon Bluewings defender, Kang Min-soo, or Hwang Jae-won of
Asian champions Pohang Steelers.

Kwak had only been back in the South Korean squad since last November after a lengthy spell out of action due to a knee problem.

In his first game
for the Taeguk Warriors against Cote d’Ivoire last March in London, he
scored his side’s second in the 2-0 win over the Elephants to bring his
goals at international level for South Korea to four.

South Korea complete their preparations against European champions
Spain on Thursday ahead of their opening game against Greece on June
12, the same day the Super Eagles get to play former world champions
Argentina. The Koreans, who co-hosted the World Cup with Japan in 2002,
and who made it all the way to the semi finals at that edition before
losing to eventual runners-up Germany, will after the game against the
Greeks tackle Argentina on June 17 before completing the group phase
against the Super Eagles five days later.