Took another view of the Swansea/Sunderland match today - this is probably 'too much detail' but here goes: When Ki got the call to sub in, it was quite the unusual situation, what with Ki initially missing his jersey. Ladrup was looking a bit frustrated, throwing his hands in the air while there was a scramble to find Ki's jersey. I believe that whole episode lasted about 40 seconds. I don't think that'll happen again. Once in, he did a brilliant job as everyone saw. The tv commentators noticed as well. 79 minutes in, "[Sessegnon], outmuscled by the newcomer," - being Ki of course when he dispossesed him of the ball. Sometime after the 81st minute, as Swansea was playing tiki taki ball -with Ki conducting the orchestra, the commentators chimed in: "...now Ki, who's not just about chasing the ball (strategic to do when down to 10 men) -he looking to prompt things here." A few minutes later there's Swansea looking really dangerous, with several good opportunities to find the back of the net. An impressive team effort, and Ki is fitting right in Swansea style.
Wayne Routledge's tweet to KSY https://twitter.com/wayneroutledge/status/242690702268571648 KSY's response https://twitter.com/thekey16/status/242709283261804546
Kyopo, you're BSK's cosmonaut rep in the twittersphere. Nice to see him getting along with the squad.
Oh right, it's all just one big extension of the productivity-suck known as Olympics soccer. BTW, I've been thinking about it and I think the Olympics is one of the best tourneys for the fans. The matches come quickly and before you know it you're deep into the knockouts challenging for a medal. It was a surreal ride this summer, wasn't it?
. I'm still pinching myself as to how we managed to pull it off. Life memories. Ranks up there with 2002. Here's to the KNT giving us more to come.
In some ways, it was even more exhilarating than 2002. We had a charismatic homegrown coach, we beat the home team, our inconsistent striker came through for us and we got our final prize in a highly charged game against Japan. Unlike 2002, a team mostly anchored by veterans who gave their last hurrah, this team gave us a glimpse into our future.
That penalty shoot-out against GB ... it never gets old. Never. I play it whenever I'm stressed and I always smile with LBY saves Sturridge's penalty.
I could probably recite the BBC commentary on it. Ki. Sung Yong. Of Celtic. To take the last penalty .. and end the dream .. of Olympic gold ...
I watched it again, just now, for kicks. Here's another video. Not sure if it was posted anywhere. The commentary from the GB fan is interesting.
Long-shot and goals compilation. I know its a bit irrelavent but he only has 3/5 week foot ability in FIFA
His off-foot shooting ability is off the charts imo. Looks like he's barely trying on some of the rocket shots that he makes. I think it was in Healing Camp that Ki said his dad really drilled two-footedness into him from a young age above all else. It's really paying dividends now. It's funny though because you almost never see him do long-range passes with his left. He always switches it back to his right for that.
If I may, it wasn't always like that. I remember that when I first watched him play, in 2007, what impressed me the most was his ability to execute those 60 meter passes with either foot. It's a skill very few have, and those who do usually develop it throughtout their careers, with Pirlo being the prime example. Xabi Alonso too, although to a lesser extent. Here; here; and here; This last one is particularly impressive... At age 19, doing 7 of those in a match (one of them left-footed), with such precision. What I mean is, he, indeed, has the ability to do it, even though in recent years I haven't seen him make use of it. Perhaps under Laudrup, who, when it comes to passing, made us doubt what his preferred foot was, he'll try some of those again.
Apparently, the embedding code doesn't allow youtube timestamps. The passes I was referring to are, 1st video at 3:19 2nd video at 0:27 3rd video at 1:00.
If you're gonna do it, might as well make it a professional photographer that does it, not a low-resolution phone camera. Have some dignity!