Korea Republic goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae revealed a confident mood when he said his team will beat the struggling Les Bleus during their Group E match on Sunday. "This is not because of France's draw with Switzerland," a bold Woon-Jae was quoted as saying by FIFAworldcup.com. "Even before that, I was confident that we could do it. When our plane took off from Korea, I believed we could win all our matches." Korea Republic came from behind to beat debuting Togo 2-1 in their World Cup opening game and he said they are ready to repeat their success against France. "If my hands fail me against France, I'll use my whole body to stop them," Dick Advocaat's skipper said. Teammate Ahn Jung-Hwan, who scored the second goal against Togo added that Korea holds a tactical advantage over Les Bleus, who only recently finished their European League games. "The reason so many goals are coming late on the second half this World Cup is that players from the European leagues are physically exhausted," he said. "It hasn't been long since their domestic season drew to a close. We have to capitalize on any lapses in their concentration."
Henry Even France's Thierry Henry admitted that Korea posed a threat in the tournament. "It's not going to be easy,” said the Arsenal centre-forward of beating Korea Republic. "A lot of people said that our match against Switzerland was the clash of the potential top two," he said, "but look how Korea came back from a goal down against a very strong Togo side. You never know what can happen. It's a very tight group." Henry, who finished as top scorer in the English Premier League for the third consecutive year, dismissed criticism about France's inability to score against Switzerland and praised his team's efforts. "Against Switzerland, we were very mobile in attack, and we can be very pleased with the way we played.” With three points a Korea Republic win against France would allow the Red Devils to avoid a make-or-break game against Switzerland. "We always end up going right down to the wire in major competitions like the World Cup and the Olympics," Korea's bleached blonde forward Lee Chun-Soo said.
