The new coach of the national soccer team, Cho Kwang-rae, said he plans to narrow the gap in skill levels between the South Korean team and the world’s top soccer squads.

Cho told reporters Thursday that although the national soccer team advanced into the second round of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this year, it had a difficult time scoring goals and defending. He said he plans to improve the team’s passing and will work on becoming quicker at making defense-to-offense transitions.

Cho said he will select the members of the national team based on ability rather than on favoritism or the players’ reputations.