Park not going to Olympics

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung has been left out of South Korea’s preliminary squad for the Olympic Games.

Coach Park Sung-hwa named a 40-strong party on Monday afternoon with Park and West Bromwich Albion midfielder Kim Do-heon the most notable omissions.

Each nation is allowed to select three over-age players and Park will choose from five when he announces the final 18 players that are to go to Beijing on July 21.

The only overseas-based player included in the squad is Kim Dong-jin who plays for UEFA Cup and Russian league winners Zenit St Petersburg.

Korea Republic have been grouped with Italy, Honduras and Cameroon in Group D of the tournament which runs from August 6 to 23.

They will play three warm-up matches against Guatemala on July 16 in Ansan, Ivory Coast in Suwon on July 27 and Australia in Seoul four days later.

Korea Republic preliminary Olympic squad:

Jung Sung-ryong (Seongnam), Song Yoo-geol (Incheon), Yang Dong-won (Daejeon), Kim Jin-hyun (Donggook Univ), Kang Min-soo (Jeonbuk), Kim Jin-gyu (Seoul), Kim Geun-hwan (Gyunghee Univ), Yoon Won-il (Jeju), Lee Yo-han (Jeonbuk), Kim Chang-soo (Busan), Shin Gwang-hoon (Pohang), Choi Chul-soon (Jeonbuk), Jung In-hwan (Jeonnam), Kim Tae-yoon (Gwangju), Lee Gyu-ro (Jeonnam), Lee Yong-gi (Yonsei Univ), Baek Ji-hoon (Suwon), Oh Jang-eun (Ulsan), Ki Sung-yong (Seoul), Lee Chung-yong (Seoul), Kim Seung-yong (Gwangju), Jo Yong-cheol (Yokohama), Seo Sang-min (Gyeongnam), Gu Ja-cheol (Jeju), Kwon Soon-hyung (Koryo Univ), Lee Seung-ryul (Seoul), Cho Yong-tae (Suwon), Han Dong-won (Seongnam), Seo Jung-jin (Jeonbuk), Park Chu-young (Seoul), Lee Geun-ho (Daegu), Shin Young-rok (Suwon), Seo Dong-hyun (Suwon), Yang Dong-hyun (Ulsan), Ha Tae-gyun (Suwon)

Overage Players:

Kim Dong-jin (Zenit, Russia) Choi Hyo-jin (Pohang), Kim Chi-woo (Chunnam), Kim Jung-woo (Seongnam) Yeom Ki-hoon (Ulsan)