Korea Republic

[mittchan82]

What about them Taegeuk Warriors?

Qualified for every WC since 86 tournament.

Didn't win a single game until 02 tournament when they lost against Germany in the semis and placed fourth behind Turkey.

Had first away win in 06.

2010 marked another milestone in the Korean football history by going to the WC knockout stage (except in 02 which was in Korea)

Korea is getting better as time goes by and there are actually a handful of Korean players playing around the European leagues.

Only thing that bugs me is that the Korean government requires every korean males above the age of 18 to serve in the military for 2 years as a mandatory service. That hinders lot of footballers to get into descent teams even if they have the potential to play for them.

Any thoughts?

 

[veryfatchocobo]

#2 Asian team right now. IMO, they don't have the flash that Japan have, but they have the stature to play more defensive since you guys tend to be the tall guys of Asia from a Filipino standpoint. And so glad they don't play the Middle East way (busstyle).

Your keeper Jung Sung Ryong should be out of the team ASAP as you may have heard a couple hundred times from me. IMO, he has fast reflexes when the ball comes to him, but he's just very slow laterally and can't jump worth crap. His tall stature is really what makes him start games and not his technique, which is unlike Kawashima and the current greats like Casillas, Cech, Valdes, etc. Just because he started for the WC doesn't mean he should be the starting keeper for the rest of his time.....

Koo Ja-Cheol just signed for Woflsburg (or however that's spelled). Congrats to him! Hopefully, he'll start games, too. I can't believe he was originally a DM when he played amazingly as the AM of their 4-2-3-1 system. Perhaps though, he probably should have played deeper helping Ki Sung-Yueng against Japan though....

Ji Dong-Won is young, but really plays older than he really is. His technique is definitely up there and is a good mobile target striker. I expect him to be miles better than Park Chu-Young.

IMO, Park Ji-Sung is too young to step out of the national team. He's 29 turning 30 <_<. He still has the legs and is probably going to hit his prime at this time (from what I've seen with Man U this year). Then again, I am probably being ignorant and perhaps a bit of culture has to do something with it....

It's really a shame that Cha Du-Ri is as old as he is.......... He's definitely one of the top attacking RBs in the game today.

 

[mittchan82]

Very impressed and pleased VFC.

Korea did pretty well this Asian Cup, me thinks. Like you mentioned we have major problems with our defense line and GK. I blame this on the mentality of Koreans who think that you become a defender or GK because you have no skill. Naturally everyone want to become mid/foward.

Anyways, I don't know about GK position but our coach is looking for other options in the D. He called on several unknown/young defenders to test out during the friendly vs Turkey. I hope we find some hidden jewel like we did with Koo and Ji.
Another young players to look forward to are Son Heung Min, Nam Tae Hee and Yoon Bit Ga Ram. If they live up to the hype then it would be an amazing midfield line up. And not to mention they are all in late teens or early 20s (in Korea it's called the 2002 kids for being inspired by the 02 Korean WC team.)

Back to GK. Korea has this one 16 year old kid that has been amazing in his age group. I know it's too soon to tell but from what I've seen he's pretty well rounded GK: tall, quick reflexes and good positioning. His half Korea and half russian but opted to play for Korea, he says in an interview. Crossing my fingers for him to grow as a player and join the Korean team. One name comes to my mind and that's Kim young Gwang; this guy was amazing couple of years back but after going to the military, he just fadedout. Sad thing is other than him we really don't have any GK to look forward to

Now about Park Ji Sung. Yes he is still young barely hitting 30. The reasons for his premature retirement are (according to him) 1) to give younger players chances to play without him interfering with their chances to play, 2) Korea became too dependent on him and Lee Young Pyo (retired same time as Park did) which was a major handicap in his view, 3) his knees can't take the EPL games + all the international games including meaningless friendlies + the flights going from England to Korea or wherever Korea is playing. With that said, I'm hoping for him to come back just before the 2014 WC and rejoin the national team. Until then he would be "retired" so he don't have to endure all the travel and concentrate on Man U.

Cha Du Ri's age is up there but the way he takes care of himself makes me thinks he has another WC in him. Again, crossing my fingers.

Finally, I have to say that this Korea team that we saw in the Asian Cup is not a complete. The manager has clearly stated that all the matches leading up to the WC are test phases. In another word if he wins along the way, it's just a bonus but the real prize would be Korea performing well in the WC and hopefully proving to the world that 2002 was not just match fixing or a fluke.