Korea no longer fear Euro barrier

South Korea prepared to face Germany in the World Cup semi-final with coach Guus Hiddink claiming they no longer fear European sides.

Hiddink feels the Koreans used to have an inferiority complex when it came to playing European teams.

When he became coach he set about breaking down that barrier by deliberately playing these sides and he believes Korea's victories in this World Cup over Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain prove it is no longer a problem.

Hiddink said: "When I started this job I knew through information I had received that Korea didn't want to play against European sides. They had a false respect for European teams.

"They felt inferior in all aspects of the game - the physical part, the mental part and the tactical part.

"I had a strategy and I said I wanted to play against the stronger European teams.

"It's true that we got blown away in a lot of them, but the players kept on going and all of a sudden they realised they were not being so outplayed and that they were not so inferior.

"We grew as a team and as personalities, and they don't fear European teams now.

"They have respect, but it's not like before where they more or less stopped playing because they allowed themselves to be intimidated. This is a very important development for Korean football."

Hiddink was due to give late fitness checks to star striker Ahn Jung-hwan and midfielders Kim Nam-il and Yoo Sang-chul.