PBP Thread: Match #12, Sweden vs South Korea, 18 June 2018 [R]

In.

 

The outcome will be heavily depended upon how Korean defence performs. If the unit plays well, Sweden will likely go home after their match against Mexico. If not, it will be sure three points for Sweden

 

I predict a thrashing of South Koreans. Sweden 3-0 S.Korea. Korea is the weakest Asian team atm.

 

The weakest is Saudi Arabia, by far. But yeah, the Koreans are not inspiring.

 

On point. That's the big question. The defence. If South Korea found a solution to cover up their defensive weaknesses with solid defending as a unit South Korea can surprise. If not they go home dead last with zero points.

 

South Korea doesn't have good defenders and they barely can score goals. The only plus side is that they have decent midfielders. Sweden even without Zlatan, can walk over them.

 

I don't consider Saudi Arabia even as Asian top level. They are second tier side on the same line with Uzbekistan, Syria, Iraq and UAE. Iran, Australia, Japan and South Korea are Asia's top tier level.

 

Ki Seung Yeung is a solid player in midfield. Son Heung Min is a star in Tottenham. There is actually some quality. South Korea's fate will be sealed by how the team will bind midfield and defense as a strong unit. Midfielder have to defend and support defenders all the time.

 

Son Heung Min is their only weapon. Ki Seung Yeung is an old and injury prone player in Swansea and they relegated. Entire Korean defense line is a joke.

 

I feel this would be an easy win for Sweden, 2-0

 

While i think Sweden wins.. it will not be easy. Sweden is not exactly an offensive power house, though i do not anticipate Korea scoring either..

 

I think this will be a scrap especially now that both teams know that Germany will be out for blood. I predict a 2-2 draw.

 

and who is sweden's weapon?

 

For either Sweden or South Korea to have a chance to advance out of this group they need to get 3 points in this game. Hopefully both teams will go for it.

 

Their only weapon is in LA right now...

 

Emil Forsberg has to step up. Berg did score 8 goals in qualification. Claesson might suprise people.

 

We are a stronger team without Zlatan. The Zlatan era has been one of the weekest NT periods for Sweden.

 

Interesting that South Korea left off some foreign based players, including one who played in Premier League this past season (Lee Chung Yong) and two who played in Ligue 1 (Kwon Chang Hoon and Suk Hyun Jun).

Personally I'm not ready to write South Korea off yet. If there is a case to be made for this team, it's the coach. This is a domestic coach who was promoted from the U23 and U20 squad. Before which he won the Asian Champions League with a South Korean club. I'm sure he understands his player pool better than we do on Big Soccer.

He qualified his team out of group play in U20 World Cup, including a win against Argentina. He qualified his team out of group play in the Olympics, including a win against Mexico and a draw against Germany. And he also qualified his team out of his group in the U23 AFC championships, eventually losing the final vs. Japan. That's 3 international tournaments where he was able to survive the group stage.

Interestingly his last friendly match at U23 level was against Sweden, which South Korea won 3-2. So he played Sweden, Germany and Mexico at U23 level and he went unbeaten. Is any of this relevant for the senior team? I have no idea ... but it's an interesting fact.

 

Kwon is injured and Lee hasn't been in good form. Suk being omitted came as a surprise for us as well.

Many are writing South Korea off as an easy win but I can see them grabbing 4-5 points from this group. Am I confident enough to place a bet on my prediction? No but as a fan, I think its possible.

Korea tends to have pretty close games with Germany.
1) 94 WC (USA) - Germany 3:2 South Korea (game where one of the German players stated that if another 10 mins were to be played, Korea would've drawn or won)
2) 02 WC (Korea/Japan) - Germany 1:0 South Korea (semifinals)
3) 04 Friendly (Korea) - South Korea 3:1 Germany (full strength friendly for both sides)
These games aren't good indicators given the amount of time that passed but interesting to note nevertheless.

With Mexico beating Germany, there's all to play for in this group.

 

This is not the best comparison but the last time Korea was in a group with Germany and Mexico (2016 Olympics), Korea came out on top.

Strange things happen at the World Cup and despite the fact that we haven't even finished the first group of games, we've already seen a handful of interesting results. I'm hoping this will continue for today's game against Sweden. 2-1 win for South Korea

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but a big win tonight/today by Sweden would put a lot of pressure on Germany to most past the group stages?

 

The Germans pretty much need to win the remaining two games anway to assure qualification, and it's in their character to not go for the risky calculation of 4 points being enough to go through. Especially since Sweden potentially beating Mexico (and Mexico beating Korea) in the last round could mean that a draw vs Sweden ends up being not enough.

Besides, I think it's far more likely that it's a fired-up, motivated Germany and not Sweden that ends up thrashing Korea.

 

Let's see.... 2-0 win for Sweden. Heung Min Son, while dangerous, won't be able to break Sweden's bunker alone, therefore sweden will score fast and be in control of the game from there on. SK might have possession, though...

 

I'd think your biggest problem will be the attack, not the defense. Sure, defense will also play an important role against the clinical swedish strikers, but I see you incapable of scoring (unless OG, PK, or FK obviously)