I like Korea's chances of advancing. They're mentally tough and will always give 100% for the full 90. Their high work rate will definitely be an advantage. However their attack is weakened without their top striker (Lee Dong Gug) out due to injury.
I agree with this, especially about South Korea always going all out for ninty (or more) minutes. In fact, they first caught my eye doing exactly this in the 1990 World Cup when no one had ever heard of South Korean soccer.
lee dong gook probably has the best strikes in the team, he can really take a good shot once in awhile, but he's slow, and he tends to not pass the ball. it's fraustrating when you watch park ji sung try to make a 1-2 pass to him, and lee dong gook catches the ball and doesnt know what to do with it. Ahn Jung Hwan is better in that central position i think. Park chu young. Him and park ji sung works together well, they have a similar mind when it comes to 1-2 passes and creating spaces for themselves. But Park Chu young just gets beaten by bigger european teams, making him invisible on the field. When he plays the smaller and weaker teams like Angola, he was everywhere, cutting in and creating chances. He needs to bulk up, but in Togo game, watch out for him, cause he'll score one or even two. Against France and Switzerland, they should consider Seol Ki Heyon. Lee Chun Soo. If it was up to me, he's be a sub, but on that right forward position, there really isnt anyone there to play. It's fraustrating. I think against togo, he'll be effective. Against France and Switzerland, I'd put in Cha Du Ri or someone else instead. I'm not saying Cha Du Ri is any better, but he's big and he creates problems for the defense, opening up a little more room in the center. I suspect that Korea will beat Togo pretty easily, considering their current form. Even though Togo thinks they have a chance, I'm pretty sure they're doomed. Against France, I think it's about 50-50. France is old, and I've noticed against the Chelsea-like moving forward defence, France tends to stutter a bit. I definitely think Korea has a chance against France. Switzerland...all depends on the wins and losses on that group. If Korea has won two games, I suspect a lesser aggressive koreans. If Koreans have 1 win 1 tie, they'll come oout firing. Switzerland is not that weak as everyone thinks. Overall, I think Korea and France makes it out.
Yes of course because Iran dominated that game. SK won on two deflected shots, plus Iran had one goal refused unfairly and one penalty forgotten. Iran dominated, that's why you thought SK lost
lol assume you are being sarcastic when you say Iran dominated. Your abundant use of threw me off there for a second.
I have a question to ask : how do Koreans react when confronted to powerful players? Do they defend well against a Thierry Henry, or on set pieces with guys like Gallas or Vieira in the box?
Wait, so Lee Woon-Jae's been gaining weight, because he's been told to do so by the coaching staff, not because he's not fit. Lee's pretty short for a goalie (5'-11"), and they don't want him getting pushed around by the big forwards and defenders from Europe and Africa on set pieces and corner kicks. They like to defend by putting pressure from up top, giving the other team very little space as soon as they get the ball, drawing mistakes. It's been working pretty well, as far as I can see, but that might not work too well with France. They've got Zidane, Ribery, and Henry, that can go through tight defense like it's nothing, and both Ribery and Henry are extremely fast. But, defense isn't the real problem with the KNT in my opinion. With Lee Dong-Gook out, the only decent forward they have is Park Chu-Young, and he hasn't even been really tested against the best defenders in Europe yet. They've got a pretty solid defense and midfield, but they're gonna have to score goals to win games.
if you mean skillful by powerful, Korea usually doesn't do well. And they are apalling at defending set pieces. However, Korea can dominate even the best teams with their pressure, stamina and group defense. They key for the korean team will be not allowing player's like Henry even touch the ball. Korea is actually quite good with man-to-man defense, although i'm not sure if advocaat will put an extra defender on Henry. Besides, I believe Henry is easily annoyed and can be mentally taken out of the game.
Korea is leading Group G after two games, but gosh, against Togo and France, their offense was sputtering for the entire first half and most of the second. The team cannot keep getting lucky and if Korea wins the group, it's likely to play Spain to open the second round and the Spainiards will want vengeance for 2002. Henry had a good opening goal but couldn't connect for another. What is with France and its lackluster play? But man, Switzerland looms and will probably be Korea's toughest opponent so far in the World Cup.
That depends. If Korea tops the group, it plays whoever comes out second in group H... I believe spain would come in first place in group H... So it is a MUST win for korea against switzerland, which honestly speaking, I find very hard to accomplish.
How to beat Korea. Score 2 or 3 goals in the first half. Korea has traditionally been a come back team. This is due to their culture and physical stamina. They have both mental and physical strength to do this in most games. They came back to tie Spain 2-2 in 1994 when they were down 2-0. They almost came back against Germany but lost 3-2. They came back against Italy in 2002 being down 1-0. History shows that they even came back in 1986 Mexico tournament. Their proven record of coming back against power teams is astonishing. So, the opponent should be aggresive in the first half and try to put the game away and THEN make all substitutes soon after the second half starts. Get the tired players out. They cannot run with Koreans. Also, do not sit back and protect the lead but continue to score!! Korea has low ability to create scoring chances and they MUST exploit this weakness. But, most teams will not do this. So it is more comebacks for Korea and I'm happy. Hopefully, Korea will not try to comeback against Swiss but take an early lead. They are capable of doing this, but I think Advocat will not let them.