It has been a good week for South Korean footballers and their exploits caused the ever-happy presenter on SBS sports news to smile even wider last week. “Finally”, she beamed, “Lee Dong-gook scores in England for Middlesbrough.” The next evening, she was at it again. “At the last moment, Lee Chun-soo returns to Europe.”
After seven months, eleven appearances and no goals with Premier League team Middlesbrough, the Lion King was looking less regal and more ragged by the week. Minutes spent on the pitch in the north-east of England were never plentiful but were dwindling further, as was his confidence.
Consequently, last Wednesday’s cup game against minnows Northampton Town was a crucial test for the former Pohang Steelers star. After the pressures of the Premier League, the cup game against a team way down the leagues would not only give Lee a chance to play a rare 90 minutes but an opportunity to impress that he couldn’t afford to miss.
He didn’t. Lee fired home a low shot from outside the area in the second half to score his team’s second goal. Relief was evident on his face, his team-mates and the fans were obviously delighted. His lack of success had not been through any lack of effort.
“I have waited for the first goal for such a long time. Now I want more during the rest of the season,” a relieved 29 year-old told Middlesbrough’s local newspaper.
"I have been frustrated that I haven't been able to show so far what I can do but it takes time to adapt to English football, and I am still in that process.”
There is still much for Lee to do to persuade coach Gareth Southgate that he deserves an extension to the 18-month contract that expires in July 2008 but a first goal is a first step. The next one is obvious – do it again.
The same can be said of the other Lee, Chun-soo. There has rarely been a player so keen to move to Europe. The past 18 months have generated rumors and reports, some started by the talkative attacker, of interest from European clubs. Some were true, Premier League club Wigan Athletic almost signed the player in January and a few month’s later, Fulham were scared off by Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I’s asking price.
Former European champions Feyenoord had no such qualms and paid two million Euros for the 26 year-old’ who will be 30 when his new contract ends. The name of Feyenoord may no longer striker fear into the hearts of Europe’s giants but the Rotterdam outfit is a respected name on the continent and still a force in the Netherlands.
Lee is no stranger to Europe. The forward spent around 18 months in Spain from 2003 to 2005 with Real Sociedad and Numancia but he failed to impress. He headed back to the K-League in 2005, a move he soon regretted.
“Coming back from Spain to Korea was a big mistake,” Lee told reporters last week. “At that time, I had offers from teams in France and Germany.” He was resigned to staying in Korea until 2008. “I really thought that this season I would move abroad."
With the transfer window creaking shut, the call came. "I have got what i wished for. This is not an opportunity that comes often and I will not try to blow it," he said before leaving Incheon International Airport.
Lee deserves the chance. There is little more for him to prove in Asia but plenty in Europe. If he plays to his ability, fans in Rotterdam will be smiling along with news presenters in Seoul.
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
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Showing posts with label Lee Chun-soo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lee Chun-soo. Show all posts
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Lee Chun-soo
Lee Chun-soo: Big Mouth, Big Talent
His mouth has always been as big as his talent - but such a combination is hardly unique to Lee Chun-soo.
Dutch legend Johann Cruyff was as talkative off the pitch as he was supremely gifted on it, and Diego Maradona was hardly shy on either side of the white line.
Lee is not in the same league as those two world stars, but as one of Korea's best and most famous players, he makes headlines on and off the field.
He has done both over the past few days.
Last Tuesday evening, he was in action for the national team in London. The opposition was Greece; a physical team with a style of play modeled more on the mighty Ajax than the wily Odysseus. It was Lee, however, who demonstrated that, on the pitch at least, he has as many tricks up his sleeve as the king of ancient Ithaca.
Twelve minutes from time with the score goalless, the 25-year-old curled home a free-kick of rare precision and power.
It proved to be the only goal of the game and was a worthy winner.
The Korean media went wild with delight and Lee, a player who is prone to saying what he feels and thus provoking strong feelings among fans in his homeland, was universally lauded all across the Land of the Morning Calm. It was fitting that just after missing out on a move to England in January that the winger should have excelled in London, in front of a host of scouts and agents.
More than a few of those would have been relieved that Lee's proposed move to Wigan Athletic of the English Premier League fell through and therein lies the problem.
Lee's Korean club, Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I, declared that Wigan pulled the plug but the player's version of events is different as he told the media in no uncertain terms.
Returning to Incheon International Airport, supposedly to join his club in preseason training later this week, he was met by a throng of eager reporters. The scribes wanted a word with the man of the hour and were as surprised as anyone as he dropped a bombshell that may have been best left at customs.
"Ulsan has to promise to help me get a transfer to Europe in July," the baseball cap-wearing star announced.
"If they don't, I may just rest for the next six months."
Amid the squeaking wheels of the trolleys, the instant evaporation of the goodwill that was felt toward Lee could be heard.
The reaction to his threat was almost universally negative. Certainly his club was none too pleased.
More so, as the star also demanded that Ulsan sell him cheaply or follow the example set by of neighbors Pohang Steelers who let Lee Dong-gook join Middlesbrough for free in January.
After paying almost $3 million to buy him back from Real Sociedad in 2005, Ulsan are unlikely to do so especially as the younger Lee has more than12 months left on his contract, while the older one had less than two.
"The club is not a charity," sniffed Ulsan president Kim Hyong-ryeong.
Lee's remarks were more along the lines of giving vent to his understandable frustrations at not playing in one of the world's best leagues than any arrogance - but he needs to be careful.
A self-imposed exile however would not only see the player lose his place on the national team, as Ahn Jung-hwan knows only too well, it would also cost him his chance to strut his stuff at July's Asian Cup - a continental competition and global magnet for scouts and coaches.
With the Lee Chun-soo stock rising abroad, it would be foolish to give the impression that he is a troublemaker.
Any coach will admit that a new signing is a gamble; one from overseas more so and interested parties could be forgiven for thinking twice about importing a player who may refuse to play if he doesn't get his way.
After he was banned for six games for swearing at a referee only three months ago, Lee promised to become more mature.
As a player, he is doing nicely, but as a person, there is still some way to go.
K-League News
Soccer Book Reviews
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League soccer football Korea Lee Chun-soo John Duerden Korean Soccer
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His mouth has always been as big as his talent - but such a combination is hardly unique to Lee Chun-soo.
Dutch legend Johann Cruyff was as talkative off the pitch as he was supremely gifted on it, and Diego Maradona was hardly shy on either side of the white line.
Lee is not in the same league as those two world stars, but as one of Korea's best and most famous players, he makes headlines on and off the field.
He has done both over the past few days.
Last Tuesday evening, he was in action for the national team in London. The opposition was Greece; a physical team with a style of play modeled more on the mighty Ajax than the wily Odysseus. It was Lee, however, who demonstrated that, on the pitch at least, he has as many tricks up his sleeve as the king of ancient Ithaca.
Twelve minutes from time with the score goalless, the 25-year-old curled home a free-kick of rare precision and power.
It proved to be the only goal of the game and was a worthy winner.
The Korean media went wild with delight and Lee, a player who is prone to saying what he feels and thus provoking strong feelings among fans in his homeland, was universally lauded all across the Land of the Morning Calm. It was fitting that just after missing out on a move to England in January that the winger should have excelled in London, in front of a host of scouts and agents.
More than a few of those would have been relieved that Lee's proposed move to Wigan Athletic of the English Premier League fell through and therein lies the problem.
Lee's Korean club, Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I, declared that Wigan pulled the plug but the player's version of events is different as he told the media in no uncertain terms.
Returning to Incheon International Airport, supposedly to join his club in preseason training later this week, he was met by a throng of eager reporters. The scribes wanted a word with the man of the hour and were as surprised as anyone as he dropped a bombshell that may have been best left at customs.
"Ulsan has to promise to help me get a transfer to Europe in July," the baseball cap-wearing star announced.
"If they don't, I may just rest for the next six months."
Amid the squeaking wheels of the trolleys, the instant evaporation of the goodwill that was felt toward Lee could be heard.
The reaction to his threat was almost universally negative. Certainly his club was none too pleased.
More so, as the star also demanded that Ulsan sell him cheaply or follow the example set by of neighbors Pohang Steelers who let Lee Dong-gook join Middlesbrough for free in January.
After paying almost $3 million to buy him back from Real Sociedad in 2005, Ulsan are unlikely to do so especially as the younger Lee has more than12 months left on his contract, while the older one had less than two.
"The club is not a charity," sniffed Ulsan president Kim Hyong-ryeong.
Lee's remarks were more along the lines of giving vent to his understandable frustrations at not playing in one of the world's best leagues than any arrogance - but he needs to be careful.
A self-imposed exile however would not only see the player lose his place on the national team, as Ahn Jung-hwan knows only too well, it would also cost him his chance to strut his stuff at July's Asian Cup - a continental competition and global magnet for scouts and coaches.
With the Lee Chun-soo stock rising abroad, it would be foolish to give the impression that he is a troublemaker.
Any coach will admit that a new signing is a gamble; one from overseas more so and interested parties could be forgiven for thinking twice about importing a player who may refuse to play if he doesn't get his way.
After he was banned for six games for swearing at a referee only three months ago, Lee promised to become more mature.
As a player, he is doing nicely, but as a person, there is still some way to go.
K-League News
Soccer Book Reviews
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League soccer football Korea Lee Chun-soo John Duerden Korean Soccer
Monday, January 8, 2007
New Year Same Old Stories
Ahn Returns
It’s that time of the year again when it feels like half of the K-League is on the move. The close season in Korea is a frantic affair and at times hard to keep up with.
The fate of Ahn Jung-hwan has been the big story of the new year so far. Precisely a year ago, the “Lord of the Ring” was in the process of turning down a trial with Blackburn Rovers. Instead he headed to MSV Duisberg who were then in the Bundesliga.
After relegation, Ahn was released from his contract but since August has been without a club. On the wrong side of 30, his options are not likely to increase and he finally decided to return to the K-League on January 9 when he signed for Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
The three-time champions who already boast international stars such as Kim Nam-il, Cho Won-hee, Baek Ji-hoon and Song Chong-guk, took some time to close the deal with the ex-Perugia, Yokohama, Shimizu and Metz striker.
``We met with Ahn and his agent for the negotiation several times. There was huge difference at first over contract terms, but our talks has recently moved forward further,’’ Suwon club boss Ahn Ki-heon told Yonhap news agency.
``Ahn’s side has yielded a lot in the contract term including the annual salary. We are positive we could bring him unless there is significant disagreement during the rest of the talks.’’
A week later, Ahn signed and was given the number ten shirt. Now the challenge is to win back the red shirt of the national team.
Seoul Life
FC Seoul have released Portuguese midfielder Ricardo Nascimento -the 34 year-old playmaker spent two years in the capital, becoming a firm favourite with the fans. He returns to his homeland’s top flight to join struggling Desportivo das Aves.
Passing in the opposite direction was the club’s new manager. Senol Gunes arrived on January 6. The capital was sitting under a few inches of snow by the time the ex-Turkey coach returned to Korea for the first time since participating in the 3rd/4th play-off game at the 2002 World Cup.
“Thanks to those who came to meet me despite the bad weather,” he said. “My first impression of the fans is a good one.”
“Of course the most important thing is victory but I will try to give fans football that they can love.”
“I still have a good feeling from the 2002 World Cup. Turkey and Korea got good results. The two nations are brothers and that is one reason why I decided to come here.”
At a press conference in the bowels of Seoul World Cup Stadium 48 hours later, the 54 year-old made all the right noises and promised entertainment and results for fans.
The two Lees
A constant story since the summer has been that of Lee Young-pyo. The versatile Spurs star lost his place at the start of the new season and was a whisker away from joining AS Roma at the end of August. At the last minute however, the 29 year-old changed his mind and decided to stay in North London.
The reason for the change of heart has been kept close to the chest of “Chorongi” who had to deny in a press conference that his deep religious beliefs were behind the decision.
Stories in Italy also talked of financial reasons and pressure from Sky Sports on the player not to reduce Korean interest in the Premier League by leaving it. It sounds about as likely as reports of Chelsea interest in the defender.
Fortunately for the player, he has since won back his place in the team but the rumours still abound that he could soon swap England’s capital for its Italian counterpart. Supposedly in the first week of the New Year, Roma asked for a loan and then a full transfer.
Lee will stay put but the same can’t be said of 2002 and 2006 World Cup team-mate Lee Chun-soo. The 2005 K-League MVP said in December that he was ready to leave Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I and the K-League.
Yokohama Marinos and Urawa Reds in Japan fancy the winger who hit six goals in two and a half games in last August’s East Asian Champions Cup held on the archipelago.
As documented on here before, Lee is eyeing Europe – especially England. There has been little mention of possible moves for the winger since the transfer window opened.
It remains to be seen if that is good news or bad.
K-League News
Soccer Book Reviews
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League soccer football Korea Ahn Jung-hwan John Duerden Korean Soccer
It’s that time of the year again when it feels like half of the K-League is on the move. The close season in Korea is a frantic affair and at times hard to keep up with.
The fate of Ahn Jung-hwan has been the big story of the new year so far. Precisely a year ago, the “Lord of the Ring” was in the process of turning down a trial with Blackburn Rovers. Instead he headed to MSV Duisberg who were then in the Bundesliga.
After relegation, Ahn was released from his contract but since August has been without a club. On the wrong side of 30, his options are not likely to increase and he finally decided to return to the K-League on January 9 when he signed for Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
The three-time champions who already boast international stars such as Kim Nam-il, Cho Won-hee, Baek Ji-hoon and Song Chong-guk, took some time to close the deal with the ex-Perugia, Yokohama, Shimizu and Metz striker.
``We met with Ahn and his agent for the negotiation several times. There was huge difference at first over contract terms, but our talks has recently moved forward further,’’ Suwon club boss Ahn Ki-heon told Yonhap news agency.
``Ahn’s side has yielded a lot in the contract term including the annual salary. We are positive we could bring him unless there is significant disagreement during the rest of the talks.’’
A week later, Ahn signed and was given the number ten shirt. Now the challenge is to win back the red shirt of the national team.
Seoul Life
FC Seoul have released Portuguese midfielder Ricardo Nascimento -the 34 year-old playmaker spent two years in the capital, becoming a firm favourite with the fans. He returns to his homeland’s top flight to join struggling Desportivo das Aves.
Passing in the opposite direction was the club’s new manager. Senol Gunes arrived on January 6. The capital was sitting under a few inches of snow by the time the ex-Turkey coach returned to Korea for the first time since participating in the 3rd/4th play-off game at the 2002 World Cup.
“Thanks to those who came to meet me despite the bad weather,” he said. “My first impression of the fans is a good one.”
“Of course the most important thing is victory but I will try to give fans football that they can love.”
“I still have a good feeling from the 2002 World Cup. Turkey and Korea got good results. The two nations are brothers and that is one reason why I decided to come here.”
At a press conference in the bowels of Seoul World Cup Stadium 48 hours later, the 54 year-old made all the right noises and promised entertainment and results for fans.
The two Lees
A constant story since the summer has been that of Lee Young-pyo. The versatile Spurs star lost his place at the start of the new season and was a whisker away from joining AS Roma at the end of August. At the last minute however, the 29 year-old changed his mind and decided to stay in North London.
The reason for the change of heart has been kept close to the chest of “Chorongi” who had to deny in a press conference that his deep religious beliefs were behind the decision.
Stories in Italy also talked of financial reasons and pressure from Sky Sports on the player not to reduce Korean interest in the Premier League by leaving it. It sounds about as likely as reports of Chelsea interest in the defender.
Fortunately for the player, he has since won back his place in the team but the rumours still abound that he could soon swap England’s capital for its Italian counterpart. Supposedly in the first week of the New Year, Roma asked for a loan and then a full transfer.
Lee will stay put but the same can’t be said of 2002 and 2006 World Cup team-mate Lee Chun-soo. The 2005 K-League MVP said in December that he was ready to leave Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I and the K-League.
Yokohama Marinos and Urawa Reds in Japan fancy the winger who hit six goals in two and a half games in last August’s East Asian Champions Cup held on the archipelago.
As documented on here before, Lee is eyeing Europe – especially England. There has been little mention of possible moves for the winger since the transfer window opened.
It remains to be seen if that is good news or bad.
K-League News
Soccer Book Reviews
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League soccer football Korea Ahn Jung-hwan John Duerden Korean Soccer
Friday, November 17, 2006
AFC Mess It Up Again
Few people, maybe even the eventual winner Hamad Al Montashari, have happy memories of the fiasco that was 2005 Asian Player of the Year award. The Asian Football Confederation certainly doesn't as it nominated ten players for the shortlist only to remove most of them when it became apparent that they would not be able to attend the awards ceremony – leaving the sheepish Saudi defender to hold the trophy.
After that debacle, it was reassuring to read the sentence below on the confederations official homepage regarding the 2006 version.
"The eligibility criteria for selecting the best player of Asia has undergone a major and scientific revision, and the winner will be chosen on the basis of a weighted ranking system which takes into account performances at AFC tournaments, and key UEFA and FIFA tournaments.”
In a busy international year with Asian players involved in such FIFA and UEFA tournaments as the World Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cups as well as domestic leagues and the Asian Champions League, there were dozens of names to choose from. It must have been an unenviable task.
But the AFC did it.
The people that run Asian football have managed to make an even bigger mess than the one they created last year. At least in 2005 there was some logic to their decision, misguided and bizarre though it was, but the list released yesterday defies belief.
1) Badr Al Mutawa (Kuwait and Al Qadsiya)
2) Essa Al Mahiyani (Saudi Arabia and Al Wehda – Saudi)
3) Fahed Attal (Palestine)
4) Hawar Mulla Mohamed (Iraq and Apollon, Cyprus)
5) Ibraguim Rabimov (Tajikistan and Regar-Tadaz)
6) Ismael Matar (UAE and Al Wahda – UAE)
7) Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar and Al Sadd)
8) Lionel Lewis (Singapore and Home United)
9) Mohamed Al Shlhoub (Saudi Arabia and Al Hilal)
10) Younis Mahmood (Iraq and Al Gharafa)
It should be pointed out that the nominees are all fine players but even the two Iraqis, two Saudi Arabians, one Tajikistani, one Qatari, one Kuwait, one Palestinian and the representatives from Singapore and UAE, must be wondering what is going on.
According to the AFC’s criteria, the nominees are decided partly on “key UEFA and FIFA tournaments”.
None of the players nominated have any experience at such tournaments (one Saudi nominee made the plane but not the pitch in Germany) but there are plenty of others who do. Plenty of Japanese, Koreans, Iranians and Australians who pitted themselves against the likes of Brazil, Italy, France and Portugal just five months ago but they have been mystifyingly ignored.
Perhaps the ten players nominated all achieved more than Tim Cahill who scored twice in Germany, cemented his place as one of the most accomplished midfielders in the Premier League and was nominated for the prize of European Footballer of the Year. If that is the case, the AFC needs to explain how.
Shunsuke Nakamura helped Celtic to a league title, scored at the World Cup and the Champions League but is apparently not worthy of a mention. Koreans in England such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon have performed in the Premier League and in Germany. Iran’s Javad Nekounam became the first Iranian to play in Spain and Andranik Teymourian followed his impressive World Cup with a move to the Premier League.
It seems that despite what the AFC says, performances at FIFA or UEFA tournaments had no bearing at all on the selection, as all the players just mentioned have more experience in such competitions that any of the ten nominated.
Perhaps the answer lies in the criteria that states “performances at AFC tournaments” – the biggest of which in 2006 was the Asian Champions League – to be a factor.
It is strange then that in a confederation where the semi-finalists of the competition make up the four-strong list for ‘team of the year’ that not one player from winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, even the star of the tournament Yeom Ki-hoon makes the list. The young winger recovered from a serious automobile accident to break into the national team and help drive Jeonbuk to the continental title but is absent as are any players from runners-up Al Karama.
Of all the Asian players who made it past the first round of the continental competition, only one, Kuwait’s Badr Al Mutawa, finds himself in the running.
If it isn’t performances at the World Cup, in Europe or the AFC Champions League which determine selection then perhaps it is performances at the domestic level.
It is surprising then that not one player from three of Asia’s strongest domestic leagues – the C, J and K - makes the list.
China’s Li Jinyu and Zheng Zhi excelled in Shandong Luneng’s romp to the title. In the J-League, Marcus Tulio Tanaka has been a rock for Urawa Reds and Ryuji Bando has been prolific for Gamba Osaka. In Korea, Lee Chun-soo scored once at the World Cup and six times in three games in the East Asian Champions Cup.
It is impossible to select all of these fine players mentioned but not to nominate a single one is another worrying misjudgement by the people in charge of Asian football, one to go with 2005 and the decision to select four co-hosts for the 2007 Asian Cup.
Using the AFC’s own criteria, many players not nominated have greater claim to the prize than many of those who are.
The Asian Football Confederation needs to explain the reasoning behind the decision if it is to salvage any of its fast disappearing credibility.
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
Asian Soccer News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Asian Soccer Korea Iran Soccer Korean Soccer
After that debacle, it was reassuring to read the sentence below on the confederations official homepage regarding the 2006 version.
"The eligibility criteria for selecting the best player of Asia has undergone a major and scientific revision, and the winner will be chosen on the basis of a weighted ranking system which takes into account performances at AFC tournaments, and key UEFA and FIFA tournaments.”
In a busy international year with Asian players involved in such FIFA and UEFA tournaments as the World Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cups as well as domestic leagues and the Asian Champions League, there were dozens of names to choose from. It must have been an unenviable task.
But the AFC did it.
The people that run Asian football have managed to make an even bigger mess than the one they created last year. At least in 2005 there was some logic to their decision, misguided and bizarre though it was, but the list released yesterday defies belief.
1) Badr Al Mutawa (Kuwait and Al Qadsiya)
2) Essa Al Mahiyani (Saudi Arabia and Al Wehda – Saudi)
3) Fahed Attal (Palestine)
4) Hawar Mulla Mohamed (Iraq and Apollon, Cyprus)
5) Ibraguim Rabimov (Tajikistan and Regar-Tadaz)
6) Ismael Matar (UAE and Al Wahda – UAE)
7) Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar and Al Sadd)
8) Lionel Lewis (Singapore and Home United)
9) Mohamed Al Shlhoub (Saudi Arabia and Al Hilal)
10) Younis Mahmood (Iraq and Al Gharafa)
It should be pointed out that the nominees are all fine players but even the two Iraqis, two Saudi Arabians, one Tajikistani, one Qatari, one Kuwait, one Palestinian and the representatives from Singapore and UAE, must be wondering what is going on.
According to the AFC’s criteria, the nominees are decided partly on “key UEFA and FIFA tournaments”.
None of the players nominated have any experience at such tournaments (one Saudi nominee made the plane but not the pitch in Germany) but there are plenty of others who do. Plenty of Japanese, Koreans, Iranians and Australians who pitted themselves against the likes of Brazil, Italy, France and Portugal just five months ago but they have been mystifyingly ignored.
Perhaps the ten players nominated all achieved more than Tim Cahill who scored twice in Germany, cemented his place as one of the most accomplished midfielders in the Premier League and was nominated for the prize of European Footballer of the Year. If that is the case, the AFC needs to explain how.
Shunsuke Nakamura helped Celtic to a league title, scored at the World Cup and the Champions League but is apparently not worthy of a mention. Koreans in England such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon have performed in the Premier League and in Germany. Iran’s Javad Nekounam became the first Iranian to play in Spain and Andranik Teymourian followed his impressive World Cup with a move to the Premier League.
It seems that despite what the AFC says, performances at FIFA or UEFA tournaments had no bearing at all on the selection, as all the players just mentioned have more experience in such competitions that any of the ten nominated.
Perhaps the answer lies in the criteria that states “performances at AFC tournaments” – the biggest of which in 2006 was the Asian Champions League – to be a factor.
It is strange then that in a confederation where the semi-finalists of the competition make up the four-strong list for ‘team of the year’ that not one player from winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, even the star of the tournament Yeom Ki-hoon makes the list. The young winger recovered from a serious automobile accident to break into the national team and help drive Jeonbuk to the continental title but is absent as are any players from runners-up Al Karama.
Of all the Asian players who made it past the first round of the continental competition, only one, Kuwait’s Badr Al Mutawa, finds himself in the running.
If it isn’t performances at the World Cup, in Europe or the AFC Champions League which determine selection then perhaps it is performances at the domestic level.
It is surprising then that not one player from three of Asia’s strongest domestic leagues – the C, J and K - makes the list.
China’s Li Jinyu and Zheng Zhi excelled in Shandong Luneng’s romp to the title. In the J-League, Marcus Tulio Tanaka has been a rock for Urawa Reds and Ryuji Bando has been prolific for Gamba Osaka. In Korea, Lee Chun-soo scored once at the World Cup and six times in three games in the East Asian Champions Cup.
It is impossible to select all of these fine players mentioned but not to nominate a single one is another worrying misjudgement by the people in charge of Asian football, one to go with 2005 and the decision to select four co-hosts for the 2007 Asian Cup.
Using the AFC’s own criteria, many players not nominated have greater claim to the prize than many of those who are.
The Asian Football Confederation needs to explain the reasoning behind the decision if it is to salvage any of its fast disappearing credibility.
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
Asian Soccer News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Asian Soccer Korea Iran Soccer Korean Soccer
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Seoul Seething At Goal That Never Was
It hasn’t been a great season of football in the 2006 K-League and the same could be said of the championship play-off semi-finals that took place last weekend. However, there was enough to fill the sports pages for a few days in the South Korean media.
There was little hint of the approaching storm on a bright but chilly Saturday afternoon just to the south of the capital when Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and FC Seoul were approaching the end of the first half.
Given the nature of the K-League and the importance of the game, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the score with five minutes to go before the break was goalless.
In a bid to break the deadlock, Seoul's long-haired Portuguese playmaker Ricardo took a corner for the visitors and the ball fell to team-mate and defender Han Tae-yoon. His low shot, stabbed through a crowded penalty area, looked destined for the back of the net until Seongnam defender Park Jin-seob intervened.
The only problem was that when he did so, television replays have shown that the ball looked to be behind the line. The referee waved away the red-shirted protests and seconds later, as the laws of football decree, Seongnam’s Brazilian hot-shot striker Mota found acres of space in the Seoul penalty area to stroke the ball home for the only goal of the game.
Obviously Seoul and the travelling fans were not happy. Coach Lee Jang-soo said after the game.
“I am a football man and not one to complain,” complained Lee after the game “but it was clearly a goal and the wrong decision.”
“We have worked so hard this season to get here and we now feel that it is so unfair. I can’t understand that this linesman went to the World Cup.”
Lee can’t be that much of a football man if he believes that appearances at World Cups are signs off competence in either playing or officiating fields. Still, it was a classic manager’s reaction to a bad decision.
The official site’s reaction was less understandable, screaming that, “thieves have stolen our championship tickets.” It didn’t stop there the fact that the linesman was due to retire was lamented as it meant that he couldn’t be punished while the referee was accused of pretending not to see the ball cross the line.
‘Twas a classless reaction especially as Seongnam had a second-half goal ruled out for an offside which clearly wasn’t. Still, there’s nothing wrong with a nice slice of controversy to accompany a big game.
And what of the game? It was a fairly even affair though the hosts shaded it. Seoul had more of the possession but Seongnam, going for a seventh title, looked more dangerous around the box and had better chances.
There was no such uproar the following day when Suwon Samsung Bluewings took on Pohang Steelers, just a good old-fashioned strong defensive performance by Suwon who took the game 1-0.
Suwon may lack the forward line of Seongnam but the Bluewings’ midfield is an excellent one. National team captain Kim Nam-il sits behind the inspirational playmaker Lee Kwan-woo and international midfielder Baek Ji-hoon, who since joining Suwon, has started to turn into an all-action midfielder.
He scored the only goal of the game and a fantastic strike it was too. A scorching shot from 25 yards that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar to hit the back of the net with the Pohang ‘keeper helpless.
The Steelers’ attempts to get back into the game were frustrated by a well-organised and well-drilled Suwon defence that even repulsed the returning Lion King in his bid for glory. Lee Dong-guk had missed the World Cup and seven months of the season through injury but the Pohang star was back at the right time to shoot the Steelers to a first title in 14 years.
It wasn’t meant to be and on Sunday, Seongnam and Suwon do battle in the first of two legs.
Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Lee Chun-soo Korea Lee Song-gook John Duerden Korean Soccer
Monday, November 6, 2006
Seoul Complete Play-Off Line-Up
The regular season of the 2006 K-League is over -now four of the fourteen teams that started the season will do battle in the championship play-offs starting on November 12.
The line-up is:
Saturday November 12
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma - FC Seoul
Sunday November 13
Suwon Samsung Bluewings - Pohang Steelers
On the final weekend of the regular season, only Seoul had yet to secure its place but did so with a sluggish 1-0 win over Gyeongnam FC on a day when the first fingers of winter could be felt by the 17,000 fans in the cavernous Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Rumours from those in the know suggest that Seoul coach Lee Jang-soo is done for, whatever happens in the next three weeks. Fans of the club will be hoping that if he does go, he will leave the K-League trophy behind.
It is unlikely as Seoul have looked uninspired for the majority of the season and would usually come-off second best against Seongnam. However, Seongnam, having booked their play-off place months ago, have not won for the last five games – and even allowed the shot-shy Jeju United and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to score three goals each.
Whether coach Kim Hak-bom can get his players back to their form earlier in the season remains to be seen but the six-time champions are better bets to lift a seventh title than FC Seoul are to win their first (or fourth if one includes Anyang Cheetahs’ three triumphs before the club was uprooted and moved to the capital in 2004).
Suwon took the second stage with a series of effective rather than impressive performances. The same can’t be said of midfielders Lee Kwan-woo and Baek Ji-hoon who have made the difference since respectively heading north from Daejeon and south from Seoul in the summer.
Last not probably not least are Pohang Steelers, a team that has gone about its business quietly. Brazilian boss Sergio Farias has built a solid team that scores more and concedes less than most.
To make matters better, Lee Song-gook has returned to the line-up after seven months out with a torn cruciate ligament. The injury kept the Lion King out of the World Cup but he announced his return in emphatic fashion in the last game of the season. Three minutes after coming off the bench, Lee headed home to give Pohang three points at the home of champions Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i.
For those who believe in such things, some have suggested (OK, only me) that fate will propel Lee to clinch the title for his team and end what has been a miserable year on a high.
Changes to the K-League
Those boffins at the K-League like to keep things interesting. Upon realizing that the league was in danger of heading for a fourth season without being tinkered with, they got off their backsides and did something about it – for the twelfth time in 24 years.
The two-stage season has been cut back down to one but the league is hoping that the excitement will not be similarly reduced.
To such an end, one team will be promoted from the second tier N-League to expand the top flight to fifteen teams and 28 games.
The number of teams qualifying for the play-offs has been expanded to six. Concerned about attendances in the league, the powers-that-be have decided that such a move will generate more interest and excitement.
With the absence of relegation and champions league qualification, play-offs are a necessary evil in the league but extending the privilege to six – 40% of clubs - is excessive.
As that old football saying goes:
“Too many clubs spoils the play-offs.”
Lee Chun-soo
The biggest star in the K-League has been hit with a big ban for swearing at referee Lee Yong-chol in Ulsan’s recent 1-0 defeat at Incheon United.
Playing in his hometown, Lee took umbrage to the fact that the ref disallowed an Ulsan equaliser after Lee Jong-min bundled the ball into the net with his hand.
Lee left fly and was soon on his way off the pitch and possibly out of the K-League.
The K-League handed him a three-match ban and then his club sentenced him to three days community service.
"We've come to the conclusion of ordering him to take responsibility for his misconduct with the community service," the champions said in a press release.
“His deed really disappointed fans and tarnished our club's honour."
Lee, who rejected a move to Portsmouth last August, was repentant - in public at least.
“I will accept my punishment,” said the baseball-cap sporting star after the hearing.
“I am very sorry. As a professional player I want to win every game and play well but what I did wasn’t necessary.
“I would like to say sorry to the fans that go to the stadium because they love football. After the sending off I reflected deeply on what I had done.”
"I’d like an opportunity to apologise to the referee directly. I will use this experience to try and become a more mature player.”
And before anybody familiar with the opinionated winger asks, no, it wasn't possible to tell if his fingers were crossed.
Copyright - John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Lee Chun-soo Korea Lee Song-gook John Duerden Korean Soccer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Pim Verbeek interview
When were you offered the job?
We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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K-League soccer football Pim Verbeek Korea Park Chu young Lee Young-pyo Lee Chun-soo
Copyright © John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Read an interview with Pim's younger brother Robert Verbeek, presently coach of J-League Omiya Ardija for the 2007 Season.
Robert Verbeek Interview
Canon Word Tank V30
We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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Copyright © John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Read an interview with Pim's younger brother Robert Verbeek, presently coach of J-League Omiya Ardija for the 2007 Season.
Robert Verbeek Interview
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Saturday, July 22, 2006
Summer Sales In Korea
After the excitement of the World Cup, it is back to business in the Land of the Morning Calm though the K-League doesn’t restart until August 23rd.
Instead fans are treated to the ‘K League Cup’ – a 13-game competition in a league format that separates two 13-game stages of the K-League - a rather pointless exercise but it’s football nonetheless.
FC Seoul are about to win the thing and only need a point from their last two games in order to do so. They should get that at Suwon on Wednesday night as the Bluewings have been in foul form in 2006.
All has not been too well at the Big Bird Stadium recently. After a disappointing first stage to the K-League, Suwon coach Cha Bum-keun decided to leave his team to fend for itself in the early stages of the cup by heading to Germany to commentate on the World Cup. He was joined in the commentary box (I saw him often in Germany and it is a desk not a box) by son Cha Du-ri the now FC Mainz star who was excluded from Advocaat’s final list of 23.
The father and son act was a huge hit during the competition in Germany and broadcasters MBC were left smiling as rival networks KBS and SBS were left standing.
Suwon fans weren’t quite so happy as the team continued to struggle and questions were naturally asked why their coach would spend a month overseas when there was obvious work to be done just south of Seoul. Only in the tenth game of the cup did the Bluewings manage a win and if matters don’t improve in the second half of the league, Cha’s head will roll.
However, things are looking up as the three-time champions have recently signed FC Seoul’s international midfielder Baek Ji-hoon – whose boy band-like features have earned him the nickname ‘Flower Handsome Guy’. Baek is a promising midfielder with 12 caps to his name. The $1.5 million signing had a seat on the plane to Germany but continued to sit on the bench for Korea’s three games.
Baek will be joined by ‘The Outstanding Technician’ – Lee Kwan-woo of Daejeon Citizen who cost a similar amount of money. Suwon have always had problems defeating Daejeon so have taken the Citizen’s talisman and best player in order to try and end the jinx. Lee, 28, is a skilful playmaker and impressed Advocaat the first time he saw Daejeon play - though not enough to feature in any of the squads.
Always in the reckoning was one of Advocaat’s favourite players, Kim Dong-jin of FC Seoul. As the Dutchman left his home of eight months in north-west Seoul, he took the wing-back with him to Zenit St. Petersburg. To soften the blow for Seoul fans, the LG-backed team recruited one of his international team-mates.
Midfielder Lee Eul-yong spent the last two years in Turkey with Trabzonspor but the 30 year-old has decided to come home. His stated reasons were that his wife was ready to leave the Black Sea port and he was concerned about his son’s education though the more cynical of reporters mutter that a lack of interest from England were the reasons he returned home. There had been rumours that West Ham and Wigan were interested in the tough-tackling Turkish Warrior but the reality is that he is back in the Korean capital and was introduced to the crowd before Seoul’s clash with Incheon United.
United have struggled in the cup but claim that they are focusing on the resumption of the league. In contrast to most K-League teams who go Brazilian when they look for outside talent, last season’s runners-up have connections in the Balkans and have added a couple of new players from that region.
Dragan Mladenovic is a former Serbian international who Rangers fans may want to forget as he failed to impress in Glasgow. After joining the Scottish giants in the summer of 2004, he was loaned out to Real Sociedad just six months later. However, if the tall ex-Red Star Belgrade midfielder settles on the west coast of Korea, he may find the K-League more to his liking. Even more so if he can become friends with the headline writer’s dream that is Blaze Ilioski – a 21 year-old Macedonian international striker.
Champions Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I have seen a few changes but unfortunately for fans of the Tigers, they have not been welcome ones. The exciting title-winning team is slowly being stripped of its talent.
The midfield has gone. Hyun Young-min left for Zenit St.Petersburg long before Advocaat did but he has now been joined on the banks of the Neva by national team star Lee Ho – another of the Dutchman’s favourites. That followed the departure of Kim Jung-woo who went to Japan and Nagoya Grampus Eight at the start of the year.
To make matters worse, 2005 K-League MVP Lee Chun-soo is planning to return to Europe in August. The scorer of Korea’s first goal against Togo in the World Cup claims that Ajax have approached him as well as two unnamed “medium level” Premier League teams- a term that has nicely described Aston Villa and Manchester City who, according to the Korean media, are the interested parties.
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma are the favourites to take Ulsan’s crown after winning the first stage at a canter. So it is bad news for the league’s other teams that the six-time champions splashed out a million dollars to pry former Romanian international Adrian Naega from Chunnam Dragons’ claws. The ex-Steaua Bucharest star impressed last season on the south coast but has found goals a little harder to come by this season – however, he is still a quality act.
It is unfortunate for Seongnam fans, though perhaps not for the others, that he will not be able to link up with Brazilian striking sensation Mota, who will miss the rest of the season with a broken ankle.
Jeju United couldn’t find the net in the first stage of the league so they have signed Bosian international defender Nikola Vasiljevic who recently in Korea. He played the last three minutes in the Seoul friendly between Korea and Bosnia the day before the Asian team left for Europe.
Copyright © John Duerden and Soccerphile.com
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Friday, June 30, 2006
Long Road Ahead For Asia
Asia should be thankful for Australia – though Japan may find it difficult to find any gratitude – and the fact that the newest member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was the only one of the five representatives to progress past the knockout stage.
Suspicions in Europe and elsewhere that Japan and South Korea’s 2002 success was helped hugely by home advantage will not have been allayed by the fact that the traditional big four Asian nations, were, as the saying goes, “home before the postcards”.
More serious is the fact that even with Australia’s presence in the last sixteen, there is sure to be at least some pressure from other confederations to reduce Asia’s current World Cup allocation of 4.5 spots. Any decision to do so would be have a profound effect on the continent’s football scene and with Australia looking strong, one or more of the traditional powers will miss out in 2010.
It is natural that there will be postmortems as to why Asia’s traditional ‘big four’ didn’t make it to the second round and earlier this week, the AFC’s President, Mohamed bin Hamman, pointed the finger at the standard of the continent’s domestic leagues.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that Asian domestic leagues have to improve and not just for the sake of future World Cups. However, nobody should forget that European nations have long and rich football traditions and it is only relatively recently that leagues such as Korea’s and Japan’s became professional – Korea was the first in 1983.
Asian fans shouldn’t then beat themselves up about the standard of their domestic set-ups, it would be truly miraculous if their leagues could even be compared to those of even average European nations and it is a credit to Japan that, in terms of professionalism and organization at least, the J-League can.
The problem is that during the World Cup, they are compared with the best by people watching all over the world simply because that is the nature of the tournament. Sat in Leipzig’s Stadium before the Korea – France clash, a quick glance at FIFA’s team sheets revealed the size of the challenge facing the 2002 semi-finalists. Players from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings were facing those from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich -it is to Korea’s credit that they came away with a 1-1 draw.
Bin Hamman said that Australia succeeded because their players play in big leagues but what he is forgetting is that those leagues are not Australian. He can’t have it both ways – praising a nation who fielded just one or two A-League stars in the World Cup while telling others to improve their domestic set-ups. International experience is good for players and national teams but a strong league provides a much stronger foundation for continued success.
It is tough to find a balance. Immediately after Korea’s loss against Switzerland, Dick Advocaat told his soon-to-be-ex employers that the K-League has to improve. At the same time in a different part of Hanover’s World Cup Stadium, Lee Chun-soo, perhaps Korea’s best player in Germany and the 2005 K-League MVP, was telling reporters that he wanted another try in Europe.
Just days after giving his advice, Advocaat is getting ready to take two of the K-League’s best players, Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho, with him to his new club Zenit St. Petersburg. It is a little like going to a friend’s party, telling them it’s boring before taking some of the best music and drinks to another party. The experience in Russia may improve the players and therefore the national team but what about the K-League?
It is hard to blame the players especially as they are usually encouraged to head overseas by media and supporters who are proud to see their home-grown stars strutting their stuff on a weekly basis in such strong leagues England, Spain or Germany.
France’s second division couldn’t be classed as such though that is where one of Asia’s brightest stars Masashi Oguro chose to play – a decision that shows there is still much work to be done.
The striker was one of the successes of the 2005 J-League season and his goals helped Gamba Osaka lift a first-ever league title. He broke into the national team and helped Team Nippon qualify for the World Cup. Instead of staying with Gamba, one of the biggest and best teams in Asia, to defend their title as well as participate in the Asian Champions League, he instead chose to join mid-table French second division team Grenoble Foot38 with an average attendance of only 5,000 ..
While it is welcomed that there seems to be a renewed realization that matters need to improve, it will take time, patience and a good deal of administrative will. Attention shouldn’t be overly fixed on the World Cup, a target of competitive domestic leagues is not a means to an end but an end in itself and the AFC, the respective domestic organizations, the media and the fans must be in it for the long haul.
If that happens then, despite the disappointment of the past month, there is a glimmer of hope that the 2006 World Cup may eventually seen as a watershed in Asian football.
Copyright (c) John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Suspicions in Europe and elsewhere that Japan and South Korea’s 2002 success was helped hugely by home advantage will not have been allayed by the fact that the traditional big four Asian nations, were, as the saying goes, “home before the postcards”.
More serious is the fact that even with Australia’s presence in the last sixteen, there is sure to be at least some pressure from other confederations to reduce Asia’s current World Cup allocation of 4.5 spots. Any decision to do so would be have a profound effect on the continent’s football scene and with Australia looking strong, one or more of the traditional powers will miss out in 2010.
It is natural that there will be postmortems as to why Asia’s traditional ‘big four’ didn’t make it to the second round and earlier this week, the AFC’s President, Mohamed bin Hamman, pointed the finger at the standard of the continent’s domestic leagues.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that Asian domestic leagues have to improve and not just for the sake of future World Cups. However, nobody should forget that European nations have long and rich football traditions and it is only relatively recently that leagues such as Korea’s and Japan’s became professional – Korea was the first in 1983.
Asian fans shouldn’t then beat themselves up about the standard of their domestic set-ups, it would be truly miraculous if their leagues could even be compared to those of even average European nations and it is a credit to Japan that, in terms of professionalism and organization at least, the J-League can.
The problem is that during the World Cup, they are compared with the best by people watching all over the world simply because that is the nature of the tournament. Sat in Leipzig’s Stadium before the Korea – France clash, a quick glance at FIFA’s team sheets revealed the size of the challenge facing the 2002 semi-finalists. Players from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings were facing those from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich -it is to Korea’s credit that they came away with a 1-1 draw.
Bin Hamman said that Australia succeeded because their players play in big leagues but what he is forgetting is that those leagues are not Australian. He can’t have it both ways – praising a nation who fielded just one or two A-League stars in the World Cup while telling others to improve their domestic set-ups. International experience is good for players and national teams but a strong league provides a much stronger foundation for continued success.
It is tough to find a balance. Immediately after Korea’s loss against Switzerland, Dick Advocaat told his soon-to-be-ex employers that the K-League has to improve. At the same time in a different part of Hanover’s World Cup Stadium, Lee Chun-soo, perhaps Korea’s best player in Germany and the 2005 K-League MVP, was telling reporters that he wanted another try in Europe.
Just days after giving his advice, Advocaat is getting ready to take two of the K-League’s best players, Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho, with him to his new club Zenit St. Petersburg. It is a little like going to a friend’s party, telling them it’s boring before taking some of the best music and drinks to another party. The experience in Russia may improve the players and therefore the national team but what about the K-League?
It is hard to blame the players especially as they are usually encouraged to head overseas by media and supporters who are proud to see their home-grown stars strutting their stuff on a weekly basis in such strong leagues England, Spain or Germany.
France’s second division couldn’t be classed as such though that is where one of Asia’s brightest stars Masashi Oguro chose to play – a decision that shows there is still much work to be done.
The striker was one of the successes of the 2005 J-League season and his goals helped Gamba Osaka lift a first-ever league title. He broke into the national team and helped Team Nippon qualify for the World Cup. Instead of staying with Gamba, one of the biggest and best teams in Asia, to defend their title as well as participate in the Asian Champions League, he instead chose to join mid-table French second division team Grenoble Foot38 with an average attendance of only 5,000 ..
While it is welcomed that there seems to be a renewed realization that matters need to improve, it will take time, patience and a good deal of administrative will. Attention shouldn’t be overly fixed on the World Cup, a target of competitive domestic leagues is not a means to an end but an end in itself and the AFC, the respective domestic organizations, the media and the fans must be in it for the long haul.
If that happens then, despite the disappointment of the past month, there is a glimmer of hope that the 2006 World Cup may eventually seen as a watershed in Asian football.
Copyright (c) John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Korea Pre-Match Press Conference
It has become almost a ritual now in South Korea that whenever the national team prepares for a home game, the day before kick-off, dozens of journalists converge on a prestigious hotel in north-western Seoul and spend over half an hour grilling the players.
The squad sits on different round tables. The more famous the player, the more chance they have of getting a table to themselves with chairs left empty in anticipation of journalistic attention. Other players, some less well-known or simply less talkative and outgoing, will sit with team-mates and roll eyes at questions or laugh at each other’s jokes.
It is Dick Advocaat’s idea, the Dutchman immediately winning over the scores of scribes in Korea by throwing open the doors, or more accurately, tearing down the barriers that had often existed between players and press under predecessor Jo Bonfrere – a seemingly small gesture but, unsurprisingly, a popular one.
On this occasion, the fourth time it has happened, the players are preparing for a friendly game with Angola the following day. Most of the squad have just returned from a six week overseas tour – a punishing itinerary that consisted of ten games, a good deal of training and by the looks of things, some significant bonding – as the players seem more relaxed in each other’s and the press’s presence than in the past.
Two foreign-based players are also holding court. Lee Eul-yong of Trabszonspor and Tottenham’s Lee Young-pyo. Due to the Carling Cup final, Park Ji-sung arrived late.
The Spurs star is one of two players that have the ‘honour’ of an advertising board being placed behind him, the other is Lee Chun-soo, Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I’s tricky winger and K-League MVP 2005.
The atmosphere is busy but fairly relaxed. Advocaat, like the rest of his coaching staff, stands to one side, watching proceedings, helping himself to orange juice and shouting comments to players and pressmen. The Dutchman tells reporters interviewing young midfielder Baek Ji-hoon that it is his birthday.
Abruptly, the players get up and leave. Usually they head back gratefully to hotel rooms but this time they file into the main press conference room to participate in some kind of sponsorship deal between the national team, Amway and some kind of nutrient bar – one that looks strange enough not to warrant a taste.
After a gratifyingly short period of time, the press conference begins. Such affairs are not usually as interesting as one may think. The coach makes a statement, reporters ask questions which are usually greeted with fairly predictable answers.
Still, there is always the chance of something shocking, insightful or newsworthy and with the World Cup 100 days away and the national team’s last friendly game in Korea before the tournament just a day away, everybody is here.
Unsurprisingly, the theme of the conference was the overseas tour and preparations for the World Cup. Advocaat explained why the trip had been a success, the different kind of players played, the different kind of teams played and the different kind of systems played.
“We have a very good feeling about the past five or six weeks – playing and travelling with the team… we took the risk of playing ten games in five weeks to give the players a chance to play abroad against good countries,” said the Dutchman.
“Normally as coaches we wouldn’t play so many games… we had some great results and the games we lost we could have won. It was good experience. When Lee Young- pyo arrived in training he said that he could see the difference between now and November. We have improved a lot.”
Subsequently, a number of questions are asked, the one that gets a reaction from the coach is one that goes along the lines of: “You played a new four-man defence on the tour, most games Choi Jin-cheul and Kim Jin-kyu were the centre backs. Even though this pair continued to make mistakes, you didn’t give anybody else much of a chance. Why was that?”
Being sat on the front row, it was easy to see that even before the question had been fully translated to Advocaat, his face became flushed with anger and his eyes became hard. He struggled to contain himself.
“I make the decisions,” he barked. “Journalists write. You can write about it.”
It was interesting that Advocaat refused to comment on particular players but he followed the example set by his assistant Pim Verbeek a few months earlier, being happy to talk about young striker Park Chu-young, who according to the Korean media was going through a slump.
“We have to find out if Park will be in the eleven - it’s up to him. Of course, we take the decisions but when he shows his qualities then he will play – if he brings the right quality. Probably Park has to bring a little bit more.”
“It’s too early to say what the squad will be, there is still three months – everything is open. We will see the K-League and we can see many players abroad and see how they’re doing. We will tell the players to keep their good form for their clubs or it will be dangerous for them.”
That was pretty much it.
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The squad sits on different round tables. The more famous the player, the more chance they have of getting a table to themselves with chairs left empty in anticipation of journalistic attention. Other players, some less well-known or simply less talkative and outgoing, will sit with team-mates and roll eyes at questions or laugh at each other’s jokes.
It is Dick Advocaat’s idea, the Dutchman immediately winning over the scores of scribes in Korea by throwing open the doors, or more accurately, tearing down the barriers that had often existed between players and press under predecessor Jo Bonfrere – a seemingly small gesture but, unsurprisingly, a popular one.
On this occasion, the fourth time it has happened, the players are preparing for a friendly game with Angola the following day. Most of the squad have just returned from a six week overseas tour – a punishing itinerary that consisted of ten games, a good deal of training and by the looks of things, some significant bonding – as the players seem more relaxed in each other’s and the press’s presence than in the past.
Two foreign-based players are also holding court. Lee Eul-yong of Trabszonspor and Tottenham’s Lee Young-pyo. Due to the Carling Cup final, Park Ji-sung arrived late.
The Spurs star is one of two players that have the ‘honour’ of an advertising board being placed behind him, the other is Lee Chun-soo, Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I’s tricky winger and K-League MVP 2005.The atmosphere is busy but fairly relaxed. Advocaat, like the rest of his coaching staff, stands to one side, watching proceedings, helping himself to orange juice and shouting comments to players and pressmen. The Dutchman tells reporters interviewing young midfielder Baek Ji-hoon that it is his birthday.
Abruptly, the players get up and leave. Usually they head back gratefully to hotel rooms but this time they file into the main press conference room to participate in some kind of sponsorship deal between the national team, Amway and some kind of nutrient bar – one that looks strange enough not to warrant a taste.
After a gratifyingly short period of time, the press conference begins. Such affairs are not usually as interesting as one may think. The coach makes a statement, reporters ask questions which are usually greeted with fairly predictable answers.
Still, there is always the chance of something shocking, insightful or newsworthy and with the World Cup 100 days away and the national team’s last friendly game in Korea before the tournament just a day away, everybody is here.
Unsurprisingly, the theme of the conference was the overseas tour and preparations for the World Cup. Advocaat explained why the trip had been a success, the different kind of players played, the different kind of teams played and the different kind of systems played.
“We have a very good feeling about the past five or six weeks – playing and travelling with the team… we took the risk of playing ten games in five weeks to give the players a chance to play abroad against good countries,” said the Dutchman.
“Normally as coaches we wouldn’t play so many games… we had some great results and the games we lost we could have won. It was good experience. When Lee Young- pyo arrived in training he said that he could see the difference between now and November. We have improved a lot.”
Subsequently, a number of questions are asked, the one that gets a reaction from the coach is one that goes along the lines of: “You played a new four-man defence on the tour, most games Choi Jin-cheul and Kim Jin-kyu were the centre backs. Even though this pair continued to make mistakes, you didn’t give anybody else much of a chance. Why was that?”
Being sat on the front row, it was easy to see that even before the question had been fully translated to Advocaat, his face became flushed with anger and his eyes became hard. He struggled to contain himself.
“I make the decisions,” he barked. “Journalists write. You can write about it.”
It was interesting that Advocaat refused to comment on particular players but he followed the example set by his assistant Pim Verbeek a few months earlier, being happy to talk about young striker Park Chu-young, who according to the Korean media was going through a slump.
“We have to find out if Park will be in the eleven - it’s up to him. Of course, we take the decisions but when he shows his qualities then he will play – if he brings the right quality. Probably Park has to bring a little bit more.”
“It’s too early to say what the squad will be, there is still three months – everything is open. We will see the K-League and we can see many players abroad and see how they’re doing. We will tell the players to keep their good form for their clubs or it will be dangerous for them.”
That was pretty much it.
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