North Korea looked good. Definitely outplayed the South in the first half. I was getting frustrated with Choi Tae Uk's long chips that never connected. Man, that South side was lacking some stars. I forgot that half the team is abroad somewhere else.
Kim Nam-il isnt on the squad BTW. This team is the Asian Games squad and Kim is 25 years old and presumably he wont be a wild card.
Final score: 0:0 The score itself was rather meaningless as the game itself serves a larger purpose in trying to bring the two Koreas together... Just the fact that this was allowed to happen makes the Korean unification process one more step closer. And just imagine how much stronger Korea will be the day when both sides become one, the only two Asian teams to kick Italy out of the World Cup... On a side note: I knew Lee Yung Pyo was known for his dribbling skills, but man can he dribble... he was obviously confident enough to do all that showing off and I was very impressed.
A goal from either side would've been nice... I liked the North's neat build-up when they attacked. And their #26 Lim Keun-woo has a great left foot... classy curling crosses! Also #15 Kim Young-joon has a powerful long-range shot. I'm looking forward to seeing them play in a real competitive match in the AG.
I was able to watch the match on the Korean channel here in Manhattan (Time Warner Cable Channel 511). Great match, don't let the scoreline deceive you. I was quite impressed with the N. Koreans. Didn't think they would be as good as they were. Great first half effort. The South looked quite strong and I see no reasons that they should not be favorites to win the Asian Games and qualify for 2006 for that matter! YP Lee was excellent. Who does he play for? Perhaps Hiddink might ponder taking him to Holland. By the way was the girls sitting next to Hiddink with the "Be the Reds" shirt his daughter? She looked adorable in the shirt and bandena(sp?).
Lee Young-pyo plays for Anyang, the 2000 Champs... he's looking for a European move later this year. I, too , was curious about the identity of the little lady.
Asian games preview The final score was bit of an anticlimax. It looks like it is a good preview of the Asian games. Asian games is an under 23 tourney with 3 overaged players allowed, if my memory serves me. If I had known that it was showing on Ch. 62 in L.A., I would have recorded it. I think SK and NK have fielded unified table tennis teams before, so I don't see a unified soccer team as being out of the question. Now that would be something to see.
A unified soccer team has happaned before and the north and south korean teenagers succeeded to advance to the quarter finals in the u-19 world championships at Portugal losing to the home team which carried Figo, Rui Costa, and many other star players.
boring diplomatic tie that made N.Korea look better than they actually are. But nonetheless, I am happy to see that NK is actually pretty good. Especially considering that most of their main players are around 20~25 years old! The S.Korean media praised NK's team. I guess the media is over-praising the NK team simply because they are the brother-team.
This friendly match between two countries that are technically still at war just underscores the beauty of sport. The people of the two countries want to unite, now let's just get the frigging politicians out of the way so that this can be done.
Those people who would say the standard of this match was high enough for an average A match must be blind. The match was pathetic and no way resembled any form of fluent football I would expect from my team. It was a very boring game and only good side is the political importance of the match, and not the pure football itself. I hated to see that 'turtle man' still on the job. He has no experience in coaching any form of professional club and he is not qualified enough to lead such a team expecting high standards as we do.
Lee Yong-Pyo's technique video clip. Download first. http://www.soccero.com/community/bbs/data/¾î¿ø°æ/OnAir006.mpg
I'd be tempted to say "welcome to reality." This isn't the World Cup anymore and the team (not their best players for sure) certainly didn't have national pride riding on it. As a matter of fact, although both sides played hard, I'm sure they didn't want any blowouts. But I did wonder a bit about depth. If the WC team was sKorea's best, and they played people like Lee Min-sung, then it seems to me the quality took a big drop off after the first 15 or so. Then it would follow that if half the WC team was gone (and of course the older players couldn't play anyway), the quality of play would be significantly lower than WC level. Don't know what to say about the future of Korea's team -- sure they'll probably win the Asian Games, and they'll always be near the top of AFC, but I don't think we'll ever see the awesome play that we witnessed at the World Cup again.
Don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, but I hope everyone realizes that the north Korean team is certainly a more cohesive unit that I'm sure has spent a lot more time playing together. They probably still conform to the old cold war attitude where they identify their stars early and force them into soccer camp for years. I think it showed in what I thought was a more controlled and succinct game, especially in the first half. South Korea's nasty little habit of trying to dump the long pass in and outrun the defenders got very old very fast.
Not to belittle the NK accomplishment, but if SK used its WC lineup, there would be no doubt as to who would win.
until that actually takes place i don't think you or anyone else is qualified to determine the EXACT outcome like you have. i'll just pass off what you just said as a PREDICTION. PS I am the NK defender.
after watching the game i would officially like to announce Lee Chunsoo Sucks major G i cant believe he played in midfield as a "creative" passer... most of the times he ended up passing back to the player that gave him the ball he had no idea where to look to and give the ball to.. heck.. choi tae uk did most of the long ball passes... Lee likes to whine and say stuff way hard for him to chew... my opinion.. he's gonna be the next cho jin ho.. good prospects.. but dun have it to go the next mile. he talks too much hope he would back his talk on the field... he just SUCKS Lee Yong Pyo was the only guy that showed any final 4 briliance.. and kim dong jin..or something.. has a good long shot.. kinda like Hong but anyhoo.. Lee Chunsoo SUCKS