Midweek [updated]: Champions League / Asian Champions League / Asian Games Gold medal game

Important fixture alert, in a few hours:

Asian Champions League Semifinal 2nd leg

UPDATE: FC Seoul fell 2-0 to Western Sydney this morning. No K-League repping at the Asian Champions League title matches this year. 

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS (AUS) FC SEOUL (KOR) 5:30 am EST / 6:30 pm Korea Time

Venue: Parramatta Stadium, Sydney

Winner will face Al Hilal in a 2 leg series to determine the Champion of Asia on October 24 & 31.

 

K League Classic games Wednesday

Gyeongnam v Pohang 6am EST / 7pm Korea Time
Jeonbuk v Jeju United 6am EST / 7pm Korea Time
Suwon v Incheon 6:30pm EST / 7:30 Korea Time
Busan Ipark v Sangju Sangmu 6:30pm EST / 7:30 Korea Time
Seongnam v Jeonnam 6:30pm EST / 7:30 Korea Time
Ulsan v FC Seoul postponed -see Asian Champions League

Over in Europe, Champions League group matchup:

Son Heung Min and Leverkusen host Benfica at 2:45 PM ET. DirecTV and ESPN3 in US.

English Championship midweek fixture: Lee Chung Yong & Bolton visit Fulham at 3:00 PM ET. No TV.

Asian Games: Korea defeated Thailand earlier on Tuesday, a 2-0 win (goals by Lee Jong-ho and Jang Hyun-soo) that sends them on to the all important gold medal match.

Thursday’s game (8pm Korea time /7am EST) pits them against…who else but North Korea. Ironic given the Cold War circumstances that currently hamper the trajectories of many Korean footballers – given looming mandatory military conscription to serve before age 30, coinciding with what should be the peak of footballing prowess. Did I mention the Gold medal game was important? It impacts the careers of Korean footballers like Park Joo-ho and Kim Jin-su, the former we mentioned earlier, faces the prospect of jettisoning his solid status at Mainz in Germany to return to Korea to start his time in the military…unless he wins Asian Gold. We could argue the merits of the 1973 ruling under then ROK military dictator Park Chung-hee that narrowly offered military exemption for certain tournament wins, but for now, this is the maze-like bizarre circumstance that they face in order to have unfettered footballing careers.

According to the Choson Ilbo, in the 3 most recent Asian Games, the record has been fairly even; South Korea has won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 against their northern neighbors.

Going back to the subject of the K League, Jae just posted the news at the Tavern earlier about Park Chu-Young finally signing with a club; he mused that for the million that he was signed for at Al Shabab, he might’ve opted to sign with his old club FC Seoul. You know who could’ve used a center forward: if you guessed FC Seoul, you win a round of soju* (*winning round of soju = metaphoric praise and not actual soju -Tavern attorney clarifying). Had he done so, it’s possible that there would be renewed interest in the KLeague by your average joe Korean sports fan. Jae noted that with the KLeague season winding down, that might not have interested PCY and thus the move to a Saudi club. On the other hand, his agent didn’t hear the Tavern owner’s recommendation to check out Augsburg in the Bundesliga. For now, consider it an opportunity missed. Still, I’ll be following Al Shabab to check in on PCY. We’ll see if he can turn in an Asamoah Gyan-esque turnaround.

 

UPDATE: Still here eh?  Good – those of you wondering if Yun still exists, this isn’t bigfoot footage – no this came straight from QPR’s media man Adam Hulme. He sent this clip this morning of Yun in practice. Can’t judge a LB by a short youtube clip alone, but by itself he looks kinda sharp.  Is this an indication Redknapp, desperate for a cohesive defense, will finally call up Yun for his Premier League debut?  Take a look:

About Roy Ghim 454 Articles
The old Tavern Owner

13 Comments

  1. Hey, tavern keepers. I had a question, particularly for Jinseok. He was raving about the U-19 team. I like the enthusiasm. However, since I can’t follow as closely, I have no clue who most of those players are and why we should be excited. Can any of you, if not Jinseok in particular, share with us why the U-19 team is that good or supposedly stacked? Thanks. I would like to knowingly share the enthusiasm.

  2. I’m going with FC Augsburg ignoring the Tavern Owner over PCY & his agent ignoring the Tavern Owner’s advice!

    Nice Youtube clip of Yun Suk Young. Too bad Harry Redknapp is the manager and YSY is Tony Fernandes purchase.

    • Somebody has to ignore my advice! 😉 and yeah – Yun looked decent out there. Though the question is, was he better at QPR or Fulham? Answer – neither: he or his agent should’ve been looking at German teams to join -if such options were available. English teams in general have a bad rep for player development.

  3. Hi y’all,

    I wanted to point out a piece of news to keep on your radar: Kim Shinwook is expected to move to Europe in 2015, which the end of this Fox News article indicates: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/10/01/much-at-stake-in-all-korean-asian-games-football-final-on-and-off-field-at/?

    In a 2013 interview with Park Mun-Sung (an SBS announcer who’s interviewed many of the men’s KNT members), Kim Shinwook said that he’s been interested in playing in Europe, and that could very well happen soon.

    • Kim Shin-Wook is one of those players who shouldn’t move to Europe (thus, I find military exemption on him to be a waste). I’m happy he’s willing to challenge himself and hope he proves his doubters (me) wrong. However, unless he joins a club managed by Tony Pulis, he won’t make an impression in Europe.

      His strength is knocking balls to his teammates with his head. I’m not sure if he could even do that consistently in Europe (in Asia, he doesn’t have much competition in air & he often wins them without even jumping).

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