South Korea Call-Ups vs Brazil and Mali

They’re finally here. Hong’s long awaited list of call-ups for the high profile match against Brazil and the slightly less high profile match against Mali. Let’s not waste time. Onto the list!

Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-Ryong, Lee Bum-Young, Kim Seung-Gyu

Defenders: Kim Chang-Soo, Lee Yong, Kwak Tae-Hwi, Hong Jeong-Ho, Kim Young-Gwon, Hwang Seok-Ho, Yoon Suk-Young, Kim Jin-Su, Park Joo-Ho

Midfielders: Park Jong-Woo, Han Kook-Young, Lee Myeong-Joo, Ki Sung-Yeung, Lee Chung-Yong, Kim Bo-Kyung, Son Heung-Min, Yoon Il-Rok, Go Yo-Han, Kim Tae-Hwan

Forwards: Ji Dong-Won, Koo Ja-Cheol, Lee Keun-Ho

Ki Sung-Yeung has returned to the squad. To the frustration of many (but not this particular writer) Park Chu-Young has not. Interestingly, Ji Dong-Won, Koo Ja-Cheol, and Lee Keun-Ho are all labeled as forwards by the KFA (previously all were listed as midfielders). A sign of intent as to how Hong views them? The most interesting is Koo, who had shifted deeper at Wolfsburg, and who Hong had tried out in central midfield last time out (to relatively poor effect). The only new player is Seongnam’s Kim Tae-Hwan. The surprising omission is Ha Dae-Sung of FC Seoul, who had captained the side under Hong a few times, and was impressive on a few occasions. Seoul’s AFC Champions League quest seems to be the reason (Ha is tired).

The match is still a couple weeks away, but for now, I’ll guess this starting XI:

football formations

I think Lee Yong’s more defensive nature will be needed on the right (he’ll go up against Neymar), but of course Kim Chang-Soo’s experience might be preferred. Hong Jeong-Ho and Kim Young-Gwon should make their normal CB pairing. Kwak’s lack of pace would be disastrous against the pacey Brazilian attack, but he may be decent against the likes of Jo or Fred. Park Joo-Ho’s experience will likely be preferred ahead of the more inexperience Kim Jin-Su and out of form Yoon Suk-Young (who shouldn’t have been called IMO).

I’m really not sure about the midfield pair. If Ki starts I don’t particularly like the Lee Myeong-Joo partnership. I just feel like between the two of them, they won’t be enough to stop Brazil’s midfield from overrunning them. So, if Ki starts, despite his relative inexperience, I think Han Kook-Young could be the best partner due to his pure defensive tendencies. If Lee Myeong-Joo starts, I think maybe you see Park Jong-Woo next to him. Of course, we could see a Ki-Lee partnership.

The attacking three are obvious. The forward would seem to be between Koo Ja-Cheol and Lee Keun-Ho. I think Hong will tend towards his defensive mindset and figure that Brazil will have the ball more. With that thinking, I think he’ll go with Lee Keun-Ho who will stretch the defense more with his vertical running. I don’t think we’ll see Ji Dong-Won start due to his poor form with Sunderland.

Remember, you can check out the call-ups for the Brazil team here.

As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments. Anyone called who shouldn’t? Anyone not called who should’ve? Who should start?

About Jae Chee 339 Articles
A football fan who got bit by the writing bug.

12 Comments

  1. I think Kwak Tae Hwi will start instead of Hong Jeong ho because Hong didn’t get a chance to play at Augsburg yet. I would prefer Kim Chang Soo to play rather than Lee Yong.

    • Both are certainly possibilities, but I would worry about Kwak and Kim. Kim would be going against Neymar/Marcelo (assuming Marcelo has recovered from his injury), which could be risky given his more attacking nature (lots of space at the back). Kwak could be good if he’s going against Jo or Fred and it’s a more body-on-body, physical contest, but if it’s against the likes of Pato or Neymar he’d get roasted for lack of pace.

        • In 2002, Korea tied with England, barely lost to France, barely lost to Brazil (Korea 2-3 Brazil), barely lost to Germany (0-1), barely lost to Turkey (Korea 2-3 Turkey) beat teams like Scotland, Portugal, Spain, and Italy yet so many people think the 2002 world cup is a scandal and a disgrace….

          • ONLY ignorant Korean haters think that way

            ALL Koreans still cannot forget 2002 Glory

            I still get chills when I recall Ahn’s golden goal

          • I would be proud of 2002 if all these Italians and other people would just admit that their team wasn’t the best and Korea won very honorably. But nooo, the Italians have to be racist to us the Koreans every single way.

          • It would be nice if the Italians and Spanish moved on (especially considering they won the subsequent World Cups), and certainly the racist aspect of their complaints need to stop. BUT, that being said both have legitimate complaints about the refereeing (Spain more so than Italy IMO). I don’t buy into the FIFA/Nike/KFA conspiracy, but certainly that the refereeing was poor. It certainly doesn’t help that the games happened back-to-back, and that both refs had to quit shortly after for various problems. Moreno, the Italy match ref, was kicked out for accepting bribes in the domestic league and later jailed for drug smuggling (I believe).

            In short, Korea was very fortunate, but Italy and Spain both should also blame themselves for being overly cautious and not going for it.

          • There are so many ignorant people who think Korea cheated against Italy, Spain, AND Portugal. Based on what I’ve seen, Portugal in 2002 world cup was very undisciplined and played dirty while the team itself wasn’t very good. Joao Pinto extremely dirty tackle from behind against Ji Sung Park, Beto two bad tackles, and etc.

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