Park looking to have greater influence

Park Chu-young hopes to play a vital role when South Korea open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Russia on Tuesday.

The match in Cuiaba will bring an end to the opening round of group games in Brazil.

Park, who is expected to be utilised as a lone striker, believes Korea can start with a victory, but acknowledges he will require sufficient support from his team’s midfielders.

Hong Myung-bo’s side were beaten 4-0 by Ghana in their final pre-tournament friendly, illustrating the need for improvement.

“Everyone needs to work together to create chances,” Park told The Korea Herald. “But we were not able to do that (against Ghana).

“I don’t want to just take a lot of shots by myself. I would like to help the whole team be more productive.”

South Korea are looking to reach the knockout stages of the competition for the third time in their history, having made the round of 16 in 2010 and finished fourth as co-hosts in 2002.