Lee Seung-woo Called in to Korea's Asian Cup Squad

Striker Lee Seung-woo of Italian football club Hellas Verona is to join the Korean national team for the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup, the Korea Football Association said Sunday.

"Coach Paulo Bento decided to replace forward Na Sang-ho, who has a knee injury, with Lee Seung-woo," the KFA said.

The Asian Cup kicked off on Saturday and Korea is scheduled to play its opener on Monday evening.

Though he was on the roster for friendlies in September and October last year, Lee was left out of a friendly against Australia in November and the Asian Cup squad.

When he announced the final roster for the Asian Cup, Bento said Lee was omitted as the team has many players in his position with more experience and skills.

But he was called in to replace Na, who is not expected to recover in time from the injury he sustained last month at training camp.

Playing in Italy's Serie B, Lee started in Verona's last six games and scored his first goal of the season last Dec. 30. In last year's Asian Games in Indonesia, he scored three goals in the round of 16, semifinal and final to lead Korea to the gold medal.