I don't mind seeing people point things out when we get too carried away because of our success in the WC, but I do have a problem with this odd logic that since we did so well in the WC, everything's gonna be downhill from now. I mean, of course the Korean NT can forget about reaching the last 4 in the WC again for quite some time, but there's no stopping us from improving. I think it's safe to say that football in Korea has never looked brighter. As for the Asian Cup, I think it's pretty much open and much will depend on luck. I do think Korea has a slightly better chance than any other team on winning it though.
lol there's certainly aren't 27 Koreans in BS though lol but I'd assume most outsiders voted Korea. Afterall, I'd bet they watched last year's World Cup and felt that somehow S.Korea's not too bad
I agree. But personally, it's not because of the World Cup. It's because we won ALL the available youth tournaments(U-19, U-16, U-14) in Asia.
I've read a Japanese paper refer to the current Korean youth side as the Golden Generation (like the U-20 Japan squad in 1999). Do you agree with this?
I believe the Asian Cup is in mid/late-July next year correct? Thats the time when all the euro teams start pre-season training so a lot of players might choose to train and fight for a squad spot than play in this cup. I believe the top 4 will be Japan Korea China Saudi. With Korea winning it. I pick China to be in the top 4 because they are the host and also it will be a real test for the coach Haan. If he doesnt make it to the top 4 he will be sacked for sure, so there is some motivation for him to do well and also China is cleaning house, half the WC 2002 squad are too old and are gone so younger players will need to fight for a place on the asian qualifier squad. Anyone here familiar with Qatar? It appears their league is attracting a lot of older stars and it might improve the play of their squad. How are their national team doing anyone familar with them?
let the fanboys from weaker side do the dog & cat fight and the mighty japan silently win the cup when it's due. as for the poll nobody really gives rats ass when one poster can easily vote more than 10 times when he is not logging on and has many computers available around him and also the mods can easily change the number. btw, i will vote for japan for the second time since it's there
We'll see how good our U-17 and U-20 squads are when they compete in world youth championships (what's the proper name?) this year. Was it the Japanese U-20 squad in 1999 that reached the finals in the world youth championship? I'll be dead pleased if our youth side can do something similar. Then they truly would deserve to be called Korea's golden generation.
Well, in Korea they say that our 1999 U-20 team was our strongest U-20 squad that we had. Korea beat Japan in the asian finals in 1998, but in the world championships we got a very tough group and didn't even make it out of the group stage, unfortunately. But where as Japan's 1999 team had many current regulars such as Ono, Inamoto, Nagai, Takahara, Ogasawara, and K. Nakata, Korea had guys like Lee Dong-Gook and Kim Eun-Jung leading the team (these guys are struggling to make it to the NT nowadays); guys like Song and Seol were also on that team but they were nobodys back then. I'd say now with guys like Choi Sung-Kook, Jung Jo-Gook, Lee Jong-Min and Kim Dong-Hyun, that the current team is more impressive than the 1999 team, but thats just my personal opinion from what I've seen. We'll see in about 2 or 3 years if these guys develop into what Korea hope they would.
we don't know for sure which current youth team (U-20 or U-17) is the true golden generation. Both teams are doing very well. We'll see. I personally think the U-17 has a higher chance. Heck, we got a La Liga player in the U-17 already! but who knows. Maybe the current U-15 ends up being the golden generation. They beat Japan 5-1 last year at the U-14 East Asia championship when both teams were U-14. If they can keep up the pace, who knows.
I think Iran will send a full international side that will feature veterans and players that helped it win the Asian Games. I think the other top two sides, Japan and Korea will not have access to all the Euro players, choosing instead to keep them available for 2005 qualifying. I say Iran will win it, but then again we have no manager and we haven't had one for 9 months now.
We do have a coach, his name is Homayoon Shahrokhy. He used to coach a Tehrani team called Paas. They happend to finish runners up in IPL this past season under Mr. Shahrokhy's guidance.