Personally, I don't think we were that bad, we were clearly concentrating on defense (maybe too much), and we did defended pretty well for most of the game. Spain completely dominated possession and played a much better passing game, but the number of chances for both sides were more even than some people are saying (there was a guy who said we had zero shots). Our passing wasn't the best, but better than against Belarus. I do think that we gave Spain too much respect and most players seemed a bit over awed (apart from LYP), which resulted in little pressure when they had the ball and also resulted in some reckless tackles. This needs to be fixed when playing against Argentina. The main positive was that Ki Sung yong looked much improved, and probably would have scored a wonder goal (better than navas's) had it not cannoned into PCY's head. Must have hurt...
I saw hope from this game. Hopefully KSY and PCY will only get sharper come next saturday. Kim Jung-woo is awesome.
As did I. A few positives to be gleaned from this game, although they may be taken with a grain with salt, as it is, after all, a friendly. Clearly, both teams were looking to keep the tempo to a reasonable level to avoid any injuries and perhaps, as someone mentioned, Korea showed a little too much respect although it's hard to tell if that was more erring on the edge of caution after Kwak Tae-Hwi's unfortunate injury. -Ki Sung-Yong looked sharper, in general, this game and particularly in the second half when moved to his preferred attacking midfielder role. His FK delivery was good. -Park Joo-Young, although spurning some gilt-edged chances, did well as both creative outlet and playing on the shoulder of Marchena when we looked to counter-attack. Good deliveries like Yeom Ki-Hoon's were encouraging. -Oh Bum-Seok did well, fouling when necessary without giving away too much. Was a little more no-nonsense around our defensive third. Throw-ins need some improvement but generally his passing out of defense was refreshing compared to DR Cha. -Kim Jung-Woo and Kim Nam-Il both did quite well and were defensively astute. The former seems to have been working on his shooting and more importantly, anticipation of key passes. He has become quite adept at cutting out dangerous passes in transition and his improvement over the last year or so has been encouraging, especially for someone who got/gets quite a bit of stick. -Lee Chung-Yong looked threatening with the ball at his feet and not overawed by the Spanish defense. Linked up well with Park Joo-Young and Ki Sung-Yong, as is expected. -Defensively, I thought Lee Young-Pyo did a decent job on Navas and Lee Jung-Soo looked solid. Good positional playing from both although the latter didn't close down as often as I might have liked. -Jung Sung-Ryong made some good stops and his athleticism is refreshing compared to Lee Woon-Jae's uninspired pawing. All of this in consideration of lacking arguably our most influential player and the implementation of a relatively untried formation with some players in unusual if not unfamiliar spots. Generally speaking, I think the fitness levels were also higher and the players seemed to have adapted better to their environment, at least in comparison with the Belarus game.
John Duerden doing his bit to keep him a secret as well: http://www.goal.com/en/news/1775/as...010-special-four-asian-players-who-could-make
i agree stat...Oh Bum Seok definitely made his presence known and was a smart defender. I do think the D was anchored by Lee Jung Soo. He's a big, somewhat intimidating force down the middle and doesnt seem to take too much shit. Lee Chung Yong to me was our only threat offensively aside from the freak ball that made it up top through our typical and predictable attack. He was great and showed his fearlessness.
Interesting article from Marca, fairly well researched: http://www.marca.com/blogs/planeta-axel/2010/06/03/corea-del-sur-orden-academico-e.html A lot of laudatory stuff about Korea's continued development at the youth and senior levels. The author takes note of the U-17 and U-20 quarterfinalists, pointing out that they not only were tactically disciplined but played some lovely flowing football with a high defensive line. Additionally, he points out the continued dominance of the K-League on the Asian club level with last year's ACL winners Pohang impressing; he seems convinced that Korea will do well against Nigeria and Greece.
some of you must have watched a different game because we didn't play well at all. everyone was always late with their next maneuver whenever they got the ball while the spanish players knew exactly what they were gonna do with the ball and what their teammates were going to do. i understand korea was trying to play a defensive game but they were frequently outhustled and lost possession of the ball too easily. of course this was just a friendly but the lack of flow and chemistry between our players worries me park chu young had a dismal game as well. he looked stressed out even though it was just a warm-up mach. imagine how he'll do when it matters most. That clear shot on goal he had that he made a hash of is something you might do in a big match but again he did that even though it was just a tune-up game.
no totally... technically Korea stunk it up but I think that had more to do with the fact they were playing an elite side which made them look that much worse. the passing game more often than not failed our guys badly and thats why we werent able to move the ball up. it wasnt a very convincing performance imo but I was please with the defense. it was rather solid. boring. but solid.
I wonder how long some of our commenters have been watching the beautiful game. Opinions seem to change every week (Ivory Coast weeK -- "we may beat Argentina!" and then Spain -- "we should commit harakiri!"). That is the nature of the game. Remember last world cup? France was not playing very well at the beginning of the tournament, then really played strong in the knockout stages. This isn't some math problem where you take Algebra I then go to Algebra II. The game is not orderly and very unpredictable. How many games with 60/40 possession have been won by the 40% team on some counterattack? TOO MANY to track. When not cheering my BELOVED Korean team, I often cheer for Brazil. Brazil has had some games where they've dominated against a team like Italy (and these Italian teams played something fugly against Brazi -- one time they had Gentile do nothing but stay within 3 feet of Zico the whole game) but these games broke my heart -- Brazil outplayed them the whole game then lost. My point is nothing's changed from before the Spain game as after. We are STILL a good team with a GOOD chance to advance. However, none of us know. We may lose to Greece, then beat Argentina and Nigeria. Or we may lose all three. No one KNOWS. So take some valium and calm down. I remember 1994 (how many of you do?). World Cup in USA. We played a vastly superior Spain in the tourney when in counted. Spain scored twice against my beloved Korean team (a team that wasn't as good as our current, though they may have hustled more). Then Hong Myung Bo scored on a free kick. Very nervous moments. Could my beloved Korean team score one more to tie? The match was coming to a close. Final three minutes of so. Seo Jung Won down the right side -- a great shot just inside the near post for the 2-2 tie. One of the greatest moments of my life. If anyone loves Korean soccer more than I do, I'd love to shake your hand.
Player Ratings Full Ratings for both teams - Goal.com SOUTH KOREA (4-4-2) Woon-Jae – 6: Didn’t have too many saves to make before being replaced at half-time, but he was caught out of position when Fabregas’ shot hit the bar. Beom-Seok – 6: Showed great attention to keep up with Mata. Needed help from his team-mates when the pacier and trickier Pedro was introduced. Jung Soo – 6.5: Marshalled his defence well, especially in the first half as he restricted the Spanish Armada to limited scoring chances. Yong-Hyung – 7: Coped well with the aerial threat and strength of Llorente and eventually David Villa. Roamed all across the backline to help out his full-backs. Young-Pyo – 6: Made an absolute vital last-ditch tackle to deny Mata the opening goal. Looked exposed whenever he had to deal with Navas on his own. Sung Yong – 6.5: Didn’t offer much offensively, but his deliveries from set-pieces did cause a few problems for the Spain defence, namely one late in the game that almost found he back of the net via Jung Soo’s header. Jung-Woo – 6.5: Had the first decent chance of the game but lashed his shot just wide. He was the link between his side’s defence and attack and he did well to bring the ball forward quick on the counter-attack. Jae Sung – 5.5: Started the game well as he harassed the Spain midfielders off the ball. But once his opponents gained control of proceedings, he looked lost and was withdrawn at the interval. Chung Yong – 6: Helped Young-Pyo double-team Jesus Navas and Sergio Ramos when the Spain duo would charge down the wing. He was also a huge threat going forward and had a few goal opportunities. Chu-Young – 6: Presented with two excellent scoring chances either side of the break, but failed to take them. Often looked too isolated upfront. Ki-Hun – 7: Played almost as an extra defender as he dropped deep to help out both his full-backs. He was also the creator in attack, often drawing out defenders and holding up the ball for his team-mates. Substitutes: Sung-Ryong – 7: Made a couple of superb stops before he was eventually beaten by Navas’ piledriver. Nam-Il – 6: Introduced into the game in the second half to shore up his side’s midfield. Jung-Hwan – N/A Du Ri – N/A I still haven't watched the full match but they gave YKH and Cho Yong Hyung both 7's. Thought from the comments YKH couldn't keep possession but that's probably true for everyone.
Watched the match live last night and here are a few thoughts. Looked like Korea went into this match wanting to defend and counter attack, but that strategy kind of got lost as the game went on. Korea missed the link man in the middle badly - probably because PJS didn't play, but that's still going to be a big issue for Korea because it makes them very predictable on offense. Korea relies too much on the sideline to move the ball. Two guys playing in the middle couldn't even turn their bodies around, let alone make a forward pass. If you are playing in the middle, you have to constantly move your body to try to position yourself and play the space around you. You also have to have a confidence in your skill and not play timid. You can't just let the defenders hang dry by letting them clear the ball every time you make a back pass. This is a very bad play (or you can call it a habit) that have plagued the Korean football for a long time.
I'm watching the rerun now. The game reminds me of Korea vs France before the 2002 World Cup. Although our team lost in the friendly, they did well in the World Cup. I think Korea learned a lot from yesterday's friendly. Imagine if Park Jisung was in that game.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_glbIL9-zok"]España - Corea del Sur 1-0 Goals Hightights Spain South Korea 2010[/ame]
In 1994, I graduated college, saw Nigeria play live I forgot against who, and watched Korea vs Spain live. In 1985 I saw the KNT play an exhibition in Dallas. In 1978 I watched the KNT in Paraguay (or Argentina I think) where I grew up. All throughout my youth playing and watching futbol, as I called it then, I always knew the KNT to play the Ppung. I would watch my dad and his friends play, and I remember thinking these guys could play on the NT. In 1994, the Korean team did something remarkable. They played with more heart and fierce determination than I had ever known hem to play. I was truly proud of that team, and I forever etched into my memory the name of Hong Myong Bo. This current team, couldn't hold a bucket of water on the same pitch as these guys from '94. Those guys were men. They took on Spain and Germany and taught them lessons in fierceness. It was Ppung, but it was Ppung with heart, and with a good deal of strategy. They were different than the teams of before. Then in 2002, we saw glimpses of that same spirit. I could care less about wins or losses - honestly. The results are not what impress me. It's how we play. In these last THREE matches, I saw no heart, no fierceness, no brutality, no fire. There was no strategy, no smartness of play, no joy of futbol. If we advance beyond the group stage and play like this, who cares? we'd still be considered mediocre to below average. It's not as if we're going to win the cup or reach the quarterfinals. But if we play well and inspire a bit, I for one would be happier knowing there's something there for the future.
Ppung with heart. kkkkkkkkkkk oh and btw I think the first time I heard the word ppung chookgoo was during the 1994 WC watching the Bolivia game ( a game we really should have won ) Hwang Sun-Hong kept sending all his shots into the stratosphere and everyone in my family started muttering ppung..ppung...ppung byungshin..
Let me say this right now. I finally watched the match and everyone is praising Ki Sung Yong's awesome free kick skills in the last match. They've ALWAYS been pretty accurate when he's creating chances for his teammates. This goes for the past couple friendlies. His free kicks provided his teammates great chances to score goals. But as many of you have seen, when he shoots, it's horrendous. When everyone was praising Ki's FK, I thought he made an awesome shot on goal or something.
Yoo Sang Chul thinks that this year's KNT squad is better than '06... He was on Korean show 강심장... He might be right... because most of the midfielders from '06 are hopeless now and can't even get into KNT... Does anybody remember Baek Ji Hoon from Suwon??? He was really popular back in 06 but now he's just an average player lol. Lee Chun Soo is a bit unfortunate and it's not his skills but personal problems... Also Lee-Ho???? They're all gone now... looks like doing badly in WC does psychologically put players off..