South Korean coach remains tight-lipped on quit speculation

ULSAN, South Korea, Oct 13 (AFP) - South Korean coach Park Hang-Seo, under fire after his young team failed to reach the final of the Asian Games football, refused to speculate on his future on Sunday after the Koreans won a consolation bronze medal with a 3-0 win over Thailand.

Park has been under pressure ever since taking over from the revered Guus Hiddink, who guided South Korea to the semi-finals of the World Cup during the summer.

"Now is not the right time to talk about my future as coach of the national team," said a sombre Park after being bombarded with questions after the game.

"I am disappointed we did not win the gold and I would like to apologies again to all the people who expected we would.

"Also, I want to thank the players for competing so well today even though they were down at not reaching the final.

"As I said after the loss to Iran you cannot compare this team with the World Cup side. They had two years to prepare and we only had three weeks - it disappoints me that we had such a short period together."

With five World Cup players in the line-up the South Koreans had been expected to reap gold but were felled by defending champions Iran in a penalty shoot out finale to the semi-final on Thursday.

Two goals in quick succession midway through the second half from the impressive Lee Chun-Soo, one of South Korea's stars during the World Cup, and Choi Tae-Uk sealed third spot for the hosts after a brave rearguard battle by Thailand.

Defender Park Dong-Hyuk had opened the scoring in the first half with a diving header.

Thailand coach Peter Withe said that he was proud of the way his young team had performed in both the semi against Japan and the third place play off match with South Korea.

"Even after the first goal I thought we still had a chance. But we lost it in those mad two minutes midway through the second half when they scored twice," said Withe, the former England striker. "If it had stayed at 1-0 we might have had a chance in extra time or penalties.

"Overall, I am proud of the way we played. Japan and South Korea showed us respect and that is important. We are learning and improving all the time.

"Despite the 3-0 scorelines we were not annihilated by Japan or South Korea. Sure, at the moment, I am like a bear with a sore head because I do not like being beaten at anything even tiddlywinks with kids. But I am pleased at the way we performed."