A pretty standard weekend for KPA’s in Europe, with most (if not all) of the action happening on Saturday, while the Middle Eastern leagues return after the Gulf Cup. Let’s get right to it – but two things first. I’m posting this on Friday early morning (I set it to auto-publish) so I might replace Jae’s K-League Classic 2014 FINAL WEEKEND Preview and Roy’s MIDWEEK ROUNDUP on the top of the blog so check those out before you click on this fantastic “Read more button”. —>
Korean Players Abroad in Europe
Back with me? Good, let’s get right to the KPA in Europe table. Skimmilk is always letting us copy the listings table, check out his blog by clicking right about here.
Day | Time (ET) | Player | Club | Opponent | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday | 9:30 AM | Hong Jeong Ho | Augsburg | Hamburg | None |
Saturday | 9:30 AM | Son Heung Min | Bayer Leverkusen | Koln | GolTV (Delay to 2:30 PM) |
Saturday | 9:30 AM | Koo Ja Cheol | Mainz | @Schalke | None |
Saturday | 9:30 AM | Park Joo Ho | Mainz | @Schalke | None |
Saturday | 10:00 AM | Lee Chung Yong | Bolton | Huddersfield Town | None |
Saturday | 10:00 AM | Kim Bo Kyung | Cardiff City | @Watford | None |
Saturday | 10:00 AM | Yun Suk Young | QPR | Leicester City | NBC Extra Time |
Saturday | 10:00 AM | Ki Sung Yueng | Swansea | Crystal Palace | NBC Extra Time |
Saturday | 12:30 PM | Kim Jin Su | Hoffenheim | Hannover | GolTV |
Sunday | 11:00 AM | Suk Hyun Jun | CD Nacional | @Gil Vicente | None |
Sunday | 11:30 AM | Ji Dong Won | Dortmund | @Eintracht Frankfurt | None |
It’s been a pretty sleepy week in terms of news for Korean football me thinks. And a pretty standard weekend as well. Hong Jeong-Ho is the first man on the table but won’t be the first man on the pitch as he continues to play defensive reinforcement for Augsburg. Son Heung-Min welcomes Koln, and he only played 60 in the 0-1 loss to AS Monaco, with B04 stumbling into the Champons League Knockout Stages, so he should be fresher than most of his teammates for the fixture, likely starting.
> Takeuchi jumping in
Son was subbed off early with dead leg in Champions League game vs Monaco. He’s a doubt for weekend game.
The Mainz boys are both back to full fitness after some rocky last few weeks with the Asian Games and injuries, and both should start. Koo needs to get his form and confidence back together if he’s going to play a role in the Asian Cup in my book. Park Joo-Ho played the last game at defensive mid and perhaps he will do so again this time.
Lee Chung-Yong was subject of a poorly-worded tweet by some writer for the Bolton News:
Chung-Yong Lee missing for a month. We look at the situation tomorrow #bwfc
— Neil Bonnar (@NeilBonnarBN) November 26, 2014
The reaction was enormous, with scared and frustrated Bolton fans bemoaning the loss of their key player the last few weeks. Eventually some guy smartened up and realized the Bolton News were going to write a story on his one month departure from Bolton for the Asian Cup. Although I’m afraid the writer of the tweet, one Neil Bonnar, really did not understand why he had caused so much panic, even going as far to… explain that Asia’s a continent.
In January Chung-Yong Lee is competing in a football competition called the Asia Cup. Asia is a continent. Thought I’d better clear that up.
— Neil Bonnar (@NeilBonnarBN) November 26, 2014
And after he had created so much interest in his tweets, he casually linked his own article and explained that LCY wasn’t injured but missing for a week. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and not say it to was accidentally on-purpose create interest in his article.
Chung-Yong Lee missing for a month. We look at the situation. …That’s MISSING, not INJURED. (Just clearing that up) http://t.co/yLPMFVHuaE
— Neil Bonnar (@NeilBonnarBN) November 27, 2014
Um, so yes, back to the football. Of the association variety. Lee Chung-Yong will start for Bolton, and as we know he is on fantastic form, even earning a spot on top of the Tavern. What an honor!
Kim Bo-Kyung – what do you think – Yun Suk-Young will likely start as should Ki Sung-Yueng, who have earned their spots in their team’s XI’s. Kim Jin-Su, over at Hoffenheim, near full fitness and probably will bench. Ji Dong-Won is beginning light exercises and Klopp will assess whether or not he’s good enough to play reserves. I find it highly unlikely he makes the first team squad.
And to copy what Roy said in his post – Lee Chung-Yong has been offered a new contract by Bolton, while Freiburg are looking into Ji Dong-Won. I would prefer he goes out on loan, just to play since he wasn’t doing that at BVB before and then he got hurt, but we’ll see.
> Takeuchi jumping in again
As far as Ji’s rumor is concerned, yes.. Freiburg’s sporting director stated they are interested in Ji provided Dortmund & Ji are willing. FC Augsburg is another club showing interest. However, I prefer he sticks around Dortmund for the time being. For the past 2 years, he bounced around in half-year loans from Sunderland to FC Augsburg. Constant change in environment is not good for his development (or for any player). World Cup is 4 years away and he doesn’t have military conscription to worry about. Ji should be patient (as should we) and bide for his opportunity at Dortmund (it will come considering Dortmund’s season so far).
Korean Players Abroad in the Middle East
***There are some players in the Middle East i.e. Lee Jung-Soo who I have omitted from the listings as 1) they have no future with the KNT and 2) no one cares anymore about them. Gotta tell it like it is.***
Korean Players from the Middle East return after the Gulf Cup break. Qatar won the tournament, beating Saudi Arabia in the finals 2-1.
[table “” not found /]Thursday Question
It’s not actually Thursday but it is when I write these lines (auto-publish) so whatever. A random segment where I throw up a poll and people vote. This week’s Thursday Question:
That’s all for this listings – and happy American Thanksgiving to all you ‘Mericans down south. Also, praying for peace in Ferguson – it’s all over the Canadian news as well (although more reserved than the in-your-face breaking-news-alert-abuse American media). Let us know what games you’ll be watching this weekend – what you think about the Koreans plying their trade in the Middle East and the shockwaves on the KNT – and Jalgayo from Tavern Studio Canada.
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