Tavern Canada delivers, here’s Tim Lee with the Roundup from the weekend:
After that positive 2-0 win over Greece midweek, Koreans Players Abroad headed back to their clubs in an okay week from a fan’s standpoint.
CARDIFF AND KIMBO
Kim Bo-Kyung played the full 90 minutes for Cardiff in a 3-1 win over Fulham, a real battle of the basement dwellers. Cardiff played with a lot more hustle, and also shifted into a 4-5-1 formation. They took the game to Fulham and were creating much more chances then they had in the past. Positive signs. Kimbo (as they call him in Wales) was very much a part of the Cardiff attack but also made some nice defensive plays, notably a couple on Sasha Riether. Top that with 73 touches and 88% pass accuracy, and it was easily one of Kim Bo-Kyung’s better performances of the year.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN AND SON
Ryu did not make the bench again despite getting a little bit of attention during the week. Son did get the start, but it was that same old story again. Leverkusen slumped against a relatively easy opponent and managed a lucky 1-1 draw. With rumours of a faction divide in the Leverkusen camp, plus their poor form, oh, yeah, and the fact that their next two opponents are PSG and Bayern Munich, things don’t look good for Son and Leverkusen if they want to qualify for the Champions League next year.
If you really want to speculate more, here’s a video of Emre Can and Son colliding in ice hockey-esque fashion. More notably, look at Can’s reaction afterwards…
AUGSBURG AND HONG, JI
Both Koreans at Augsburg came off the bench in the 64th and 73rd minute respectively. Both did not get that much of an opportunity to make an impact in their 2-1 win over Monchengladbach, but Ji was involved in the build up to the winning goal. Neither got a shot away, however. Augsburg have a realistic chance of making European competition next year, which would be good for Hong.
BOLTON AND CHUNGY
Lee Chung-Yong was on the bench again for their Championship tie with Leeds United, a thrashing, , and came on in the 74thminute. He wasn’t involved as far as I can tell, save for this:
BBC
Attempt saved. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lee Chung-Yong.
MAINZ AND KOO, PARK JOO HO
Park Joo Ho started at left back and had a fairly solid game in general. He was technically sound defensively, and near the end of the game, he earned the PK, which allowed Mainz to equalize, 1-1 the final. If you read much into whoscored.com, he’s your Man of the Match! He did pick up a yellow card. As for Koo, he came on in the 54th minute and didn’t do much.
OTHERS
Park Ji Sung had 3 shots in a 1-0 win over Utrecht.
Yun Suk Young did not make the bench.
Ki Sung Yueng did not play in the FA Cup Quarter Final vs. Hull. Sunderland lost 3-0. Time to focus on staying up then.
TO RECAP:
Kimbo – Full 90 – 3-1 win v Fulham
Son – 69 minutes – 1-1 draw v Hannover
Ryu – Not in squad – 1-1 draw v Hannover
Hong – Sub on 64 – 2-1 win v Monchengladbach
Ji – Sub on 73 – 2-1 win v Monchengladbach
Chungy – Sub on 74 – 5-1 win v Leeds United
Koo – Sub on 54 – 1-1 draw v Hertha Berlin
Park JH – Full 90 – 1-1 draw v Hertha Berlin
Park JS – 82 minutes – 1-0 win v Utrecht
Yun – Not in squad – 2-0 win v Birmingham
Ki – Unused sub – 0-3 loss v Hull (FA Cup QF)
Midweek – Leverkusen tries to salvage some dignity vs. PSG, and will Park Chu Young start at Watford? Stay tuned…
Tim Lee is a contributing writer for the Tavern. Big up to Tavern Canada!
Tavern owner interrupting with a Tavern kickaround…
UPDATE: One of the Tavern goers Daniel shared this article from the Korean Herald in which Hong Myong-Bo after returning from Greece admonished the press for focusing too much on Park Chu-Young instead of the overall contributions of the team to get the win last Wednesday. Of course, in defense – the Park Chu-Young narrative is quite riveting – the prodigal son returning to the fold after 13 month absence from the KNT and scoring his first goal since November 2011…it didn’t stop John Duerden to weigh in at ESPNFC on his magnificent goal and emotionally charged return.
The Tavern is certainly guilty of Park Chu-Young-ing the coverage (hence the byline to the Greece Friendly win at the Tavern: The Return the Park Chu-Young). But me? I had money on the dude -so I gots to get my bragging rights in…
There were other pertinent info in the interview including:
- buried in the article – Park Chu-Young may be out for 2 weeks, so advised team doctors to Hong and to Park. Based on that, Park getting back to the starting XI at Watford might not happen right away.
- Furthering my ‘conspiracy theory’ that this was the result of his post goal “Jesus” slide/celebration, Park declined (as usual) to talk to the press. There’s no way to confirm or deny what the cause was of the ‘minor’ left knee injury. A possible similar situation happened right after his first goal / celebration when he was on loan at Celta Vigo -becoming the 1st Korean to score in La Liga. Unfortunately a niggling knee injury plagued him for a series of matches afterwards, resulting in diminished playing time (and possibly a lackluster season?)…dun dun dun…. to be continued…
- We at the Tavern was still high on Hong taking a chance on Park -it was seen as a risky move though the dividend paid off -at least for this match. Here’s Hong speaking about Park and the mounting weight of expectations on him: “I don’t know what was going through his mind at the time…he must have been under a lot of pressure because it was his first game with the national team in a long time.”The Korea Herald noted, “Hong remained effusive about Park on Friday, saying it seemed to him as though the player had never missed a beat.”“He knew what kind of plays he was supposed to make,” the coach said. “He was already familiar with our tactics, and he adjusted quickly.”
- Taeguk Warriors to train in Florida? Back to the article: South Korea is scheduled to host Tunisia on May 28. The team will gather for a training camp on May 12, 30 days before the start of the FIFA tournament, at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul.The May camp is expected to feature 30 players on the provisional World Cup roster. The final 23-man roster will be announced on May 29, and the team will leave for Florida on May 30 to set up its final pre-World Cup camp. Tavern goers in Florida? Holla!
- Giving some credence to the possibility of Yun Suk-Young getting into the WC roster despite falling off the radar at QPR again, Hong updated the press about the defensive situation for the KNT: Hong said the fullback positions on defense and the goalkeeping job are still up for grabs among multiple players.“Since we have a few players in Europe, we will have to monitor their performances in their leagues from now until May,” Hong said.
We listed the K-League Classic games which just started their season, so here’s a quick roundup (sorry about Busan Jae! I was rooting for them over Jeonbuk I must admit…)
K League Classic Round 1 :
Pohang 0-1 Ulsan
Busan 0-3 Jeonbuk
Seoul 0-1 Jeonnam
Gyeongnam 1-0 Seongnam
Sangju 2-2 Incheon
Jeju 0-1 Suwon
I noticed a funny thing in the Ulsan game – they were playing a 4-4-2 iirc, and when there were aerial battles, Kim Shin Wook easily won all of them while his teammate Rafinha is a midget compared to him. Weird situation. You’re only as strong as your weakest link sometimes.
“Park getting back to the starting VI at Watford”. Just a starting six? Doesn’t bode well for Watford!
Woops! Oh well – you know what I meant! 😉
…talk about shorthanded…
Yeah, just being an a$$. Couldn’t resist.