Just read it on one of those Korean newspapers. KFA is currently organizaing A-match with either Holland or Germany, depending on which country gets a first-place on Europe Chamipionship Round Group. Personally, I hope to see a match against Germany. They are more of a "power-oriented" team than Holland is, which should teach Korean team a lesson or two. Arguably, Korea can match any "finesse" team to a certain degree (Read: Brazil, Mexico, Turkey), however, Korea needs a lot of experience in playing against "pure power" team such as Germany.
Couldn't agree more. As much as I think South Korea can handle physically aggressive sides, they haven't been exposed to enough. Knowing that South Korea are the most complete side(stamina, speed, strength, technique, unit-play) in Asia isn't enough and the players still have an inferiority complex towards European and South American powerhouses. The trend has been that south Korea's opening exchanges with European or South Aemrican powerhouse national teams were them starting off nervously and conceding a goal AND THEN showing their true worth on the pitch. Our team seems to be the only unique side where conceding a goal doesn't knock the wind out of us but sparks us alive when we play highly-rated teams. And as much as I can dig this never-say-die mentality, it should be sparked up when conceding a goal when the team has played well and not because of the opening jitters South Korea is so famous for when facing tough challengers. Personally, I hope the team plays the Netherlands. I've always thought the South Korean national team was a poor man's version of the Netherlands national team in that, under Hiddink, we basically played their brand of total football where 10 men attacks and 10 men defends, but just without that extra flair and individual talent the Dutch has. However, if there is an advantage, we work brilliantly as a team as opposed to the Dutch who have a midfield and offense that are congested up the culo with world class players but who also rely too much on their skills and lacks that team mentality, drive, and passion to win. The match would also illustrate a clearer vision of Coehlo's tactics.
I remember this one particular columnist from ESPN who said that, in order to be a champion, you need to know how to "play from behind", meaning when your team is in deficit or on the losing side, you need positive mentality that you will come back to tie and possible win the game. A good example would be Brazil against England last year. Despite conceding a goal to England in an unfashionable way, Brazil were never down emtionally or psychologically, and they eventually won the game. There are many other names for this characteristic; some say "killer instincts", some say "character", and some say "experience". Whatever you may call it, I want to see it from Korean team.,