Guus Hiddink praised his team for the strides they had made in recent months, pointing in particular to the last three matches, which included 0-0 draws with Tunisia and Turkey and a 2-0 win over Finland - all away.

'We're closing in,' the Dutchman told a news conference at the Korean Football Association's headquarters.

South Korea face a tough challenge to reach the final 16 from the group round of matches, but as co-host with Japan for the May 31-June 30 tournament, domestic expectations are high. South Korea are in group D with Poland, Portugal and the United States.

'Realistically, we have gained so much confidence. With the home crowd giving us an advantage, we can be more optimistic than we were,' said Hiddink, who chooses his words carefully when assessing his team's chances.

He said the games against Finland and Turkey showed a Korean side very well in control.

'If you think about past games, you'll remember that there were always defensively unstable moments, but I think we are getting less and less of those,' he said.

CREATIVE PARTS

While South Korea have looked more solid in defence, creating and taking chances at the other end has been a problem.

Hiddink said he would be working specifically on this when the team get together on April 12 to prepare for a friendly against Costa Rica in Taegu eight days later. South Korea will play another friendly, against China, in Inchon on April 27.

'We still have to improve on the creative parts of the game,' he said.

'There were things we're doing well in training, but couldn't reproduce in games, and we have to work on that. The players have been working hard and closing down opponents well, with two or three players getting in the right place to put on pressure,' he said.

'But after recovering the ball, I'm not satisfied with the way we've been following up.'

He said his team lost possession too easily or did not create enough chances.

'A lot of the time, I think it's been from over-excitement. There were times in both games when, with a little more vision, a little more experience, we could have created good attacks,' he said.

There is the added worry that, although the backline is made up of three highly competent veterans in Hong Myung-bo, Kim Tae-young and Choi Jin-chul, there is little strength in depth, meaning injuries could cause a selection crisis.

This has been exacerbated by a long-term injury to the most likely replacement, Lee Min-sung, who played all three of his country's matches in France in 1998.

'I have some concerns about Min-sung,' said Hiddink.

'He's been out injured for a long time, and I hope in the next training block he can do what I ask and provide us with one more player for the position. I've tried other players, but they didn't cope well with the demands of international football in that position.'

In a number of last year's friendlies, however, Hiddink played midfielders such Song Chong-gug and Yoo Sang-chul at the back when Hong Myung-bo was unavailable due to a stress fracture.

'In the worst case, we can improvise with midfielders,' he said. 'I partly saw this situation in advance, and that's why, in the past, I've used completely different defenders in some of the games.'

Korea plans to 'dazzle' with opening events

While co-host Japan will stage the final on June 30 in Yokohama, South Korea is responsible for the first match - champions France against Senegal - and the opening ceremony, both in Asia's largest soccer-only stadium in Seoul.

'Being televised live around the world, the eve and opening ceremonies will send a unifying message of peace and be a great starting point for a month-long journey of excitement,' the South Korean organising committee (KOWOC) said in a statement.

'The world will be dazzled as Korea hosts the eve and opening ceremonies,' KOWOC said.

South Korea and its neighbour Japan are the first co-hosts of a World Cup tournament, and there is an undercurrent of rivalry in many aspects of the event - from logistics to venues.

On May 30, the day before the start of sport's biggest single event, Seoul will host traditional dance groups from around the world and hold kite-flying and boat festivals.

The day will be capped with a firework display, classical and pop music and congratulatory messages from World Cup stars at a ceremony in a park in front of Seoul's World Cup stadium.

Korean-born soprano Sumi Jo will be among celebrity singers at the concert, which will culminate with a 2,002-member chorus joined by 200 children from around the world.

KOWOC was coy about the details of the May 31 opening ceremony but said it would have three parts and include cultural performances incorporating South Korean high technology.

South Korean organisers have started to raise the pace in recent days, in part a response to South Korean president Kim Dae-jung's repeated plea for more World Cup fever in the country.

On Thursday, South Korea will mark the 50-day countdown to the start of the World Cup finals by sending the trophy off on a tour of the 10 South Korean venue cities.