South Korea: Young Devils

DW-WORLD: Who will make it from South Korea for the World Cup?

O-Sung Kwon: There has been a huge soccer boom in Korea ever since our big success at the World Cup in 2002, and lots of people have become interested in soccer. But I think that only the Koreans living in Europe will come to the World Cup. And mostly those from the younger generation -- older people aren't very interested in soccer.

How many Koreans do you think will come?

First of all, we expect the active member of the Red Devils Club fan club to be there. They will bring traditional Korean instruments and will cheer our team on as a group. Then there will probably be another 3,000 people who will come privately. We hope that lots of Korean fans in Europe will be there -- then we can get a good fan base together.

How far will the South Korean national team get?

They will be the next World Champions! No, seriously, Korean soccer is not advanced enough for that yet. The fact that we made it as far as we did at the last World Cup was largely because we played in our own country. The fans cheered the team on to victory! We hope for the best possible result, we want to show the other teams our stuff.

What's your favorite team?

I was born in Germany, but Suwon Samsung Blue Wings is my favorite team in Korea. It is in the K-League -- the first division in Korea. But the national team is more important to me.