KPA Roundup Sept 23-24: Lee Seung-Woo Serie-A Debut / KNT Oct Roster revealed + Korea FA Cup semis & midweek listings

September 26, 2017 Roy Ghim *Korean Players Abroad*, *South Korean National Football Team, Korean FA Cup, Koreans in Europe, U-16 South Korean Team 1

Lee Seung-Woo finally made his Serie A Debut for his struggling Hellas Verona side and the verdict: injected energy and other than one sideline mistake, looked confident and positive going forward.  Supporters watching will be asking in the midst of all the recent miserable results: why hasn’t he been played sooner?  I digress, lets first go to Korean Footballers Abroad:

 

Tuesday
Son Heung Min — CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:  Tottenham at Apoel – 2:45 PM on ESPN3/Fox Match Pass. Son wasn’t used (over the weekend) but he should start today with Alli and Eriksen both out.

Recap
Ji Dong Won — Was left off squad again.

Koo Ja Cheol — Was playing well but then got knocked on the back of the head. He tried to continue but a subsequent knock pushed him past the concussion line and had to be subbed off with this weekend in doubt. Stuttgart 0:0 Augsburg

Lee Chung Yong — Left off squad as they were pounded by Man City.

Ki Sung Yueng — Out with injury and should feature for reserves this weekend.

Kwon Chang Hoon — A mixed bag as his defensive shortcomings meant an early end to his day despite earning a PK and making other good offensive contributions. But his lack of wide player quickness was exposed in first goal, letting his man walk right by.

Suk Hyun Jun — Wasn’t used as Troyes were down to ten men.

Lee Seung Woo — A ten minute debut and I didn’t get to watch but reports were that he tried hard and showed flashes but also some mistakes. I’m not sure it would normally be enough to push him up depth chart but they have nothing to lose as they keep getting destroyed every weekend.

Tavern Owner back. Tavern contributor Jae Chee was wary about LSW’s chances of appearing for Verona, but suddenly this came over my twitter feed:

Then these series of tweets:

…that was from a good first touch from Lee that led Lazio’s Marusic to cynically stop LSW to getting back to his own flick-on.

and the FT whistle blew, here’s Jae for the immediate assessment:

LSW tweeted this out:

And with word that KFA was inquiring with his club about using him for the KNT friendlies in October, things were looking on the up and up for the ex Barca academy player.

 

 

And so ladies and gentlemen, your KNT call ups for the October friendlies to prepare for the 2018 World Cup:

Hmmm…no Lee Seung-Woo or Paik Seung-Ho, nor Lee Jin-Hyun who’s practically started every Austria Wein match since joining over the summer. Here’s Steve Han with the explanation:

 

As far as exclusions from call ups go…I guess I’ll give Shin Tae-Yong the benefit of the doubt – admittedly that’s a sound reason for that and there’s still time to call them up later in the fall.

{Quick side note on Guus Hiddink’s game of thrones like maneuver to jockey for a place with the KNT controversy, STY had a somewhat cheeky response to all that: }

Moving on: there are more midweek games to include, the Korean FA Cup semifinals for instance. Wednesday we’re looking at

Wednesday, September 27

Ulsan
 6:30 AM
Mokpo City
Wednesday, October 25

Busan IPark
 6:30 AM

Suwon Bluewings
All times are in Eastern Time
Will Mokpo City and Busan IPark have a chance to do some giant slaying?  K-League United has the Ulsan/Mokpo preview and I’d imagine the Busan/Suwon preview will be up on the site soon.
-Side note, FIFA18 player ratings have been released in anticipation of the proper release later this week. How have the best of the best in the K-League fare in the FIFA 18 ratings? K-League United has the answer here.
Lastly on Thursday, Europa League games include Hwang Hee-Chan‘s RB Salsburg at home against Marseille 1:00pm  and Lee Jin-Hyun’s Austria Wein clashing with AEK 3:05pm
Extra Time: AFC U16 Championship update, Korea’s women came up short in the title match against North Korea, falling 2:0 -but the silver lining is they came back against Japan in the semifinals and with that victory, earned a berth in the U17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay (November 2018).  With that in mind, it was a good tournament for Korea despite the title slipping away toward the end.
Meanwhile Korea’s men’s U16 AFC Championship tournament just started and Korea whomped the Philippines 7:0. They face Myanmar Wednesday (7:30am EST) in group stage.
Last but not least: Son Heung-Min still needs military exemption to stay in Europe and continue to play in the Champions League. His next chance is next August 2018 for the Asian Games – only a Asian Gold can exempt players – a rule put in place by South Korean military dictator Park Chung-hee in the 70’s to project Korea’s soft diplomatic power. The new manager of Korea’s U23 to lead Korea in the Asaid tourney?


Confidence inspired yet?  (Why am I hearing the sounds of crickets suddenly?)

 

BTW: forget about playing Tunisia (which would have been a good test for the KNT) and replace with

 

About Roy Ghim 454 Articles
The old Tavern Owner

1 Comment

  1. Wow LSW’s little flashes & touches next to full grown athletes were still promising for the little time he had.

    I’m still hoping that he understands the pace that he’ll have to play, now that he is competing at the highest level.

    You can tell that he was showing a lot of adrenaline & eager in his debut (good to hear the crowd react as well).

    He should definitely at least come on as a sub (with at least 35 minute of playing time) for the next match with the South Korean National Team

    Reply

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