almotamar.net - SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Olympic football team will face Yemen Wednesday in the preliminary round of Asia-region qualifications for the finals of the Beijing Olympics next year.

In the Asian regional preliminary round, 24 nations were divided into six groups, with top two teams from each group advancing to the final round of qualification. The winners and runners-up from each group will then be drawn into three groups, as three winners from each group will qualify for the 16-nation Olympic finals next year.

South Korea, grouped along with Yemen, Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates, has already earned a berth in the final-round qualification since they won four preliminary matches in a row, putting the team six points clear of second-place United Arab Emirates with two matches to go.

Korea will host UAE in their final preliminary round match at Seoul's World Cup stadium on June 6.

Before departing for Yemen, Korea's coach Pim Verbeek said he will put in as many players as possible in the remaining two matches to raise their level of play, formation and strategy.

Big guns such as Park Chu-young and Baek Ji-hoon have been sidelined from the 17-member squad for minor injuries and accumulated bookings. Instead, several bench warmers will have a rare opportunity to shine in front of the national team coach, who takes control of senior team at the same time.

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Regarding the number of members, the coach said confidently he did not have to bring the entire 24-member squad and that 17 players will be enough.

The defenders will be put to the test in the back-four defense line to see if their performance will also be effective in the upcoming quadrennial Asian Cup finals in July.

The match is to kick off at 9 p.m. on Wednesday (Seoul time).

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