The month of June is nearly over and what a month of June it was. This post is late for sure but I still feel the need to put my thoughts on this June out there. (Full Disclosure: I procrastinated big time because I’ve been negotiating the transfer deals for all our new writers!)
I think it’s best to start with the good news of June and the hope that our young Taegeuk Warriors brought to us by making Korea’s first ever FIFA men’s final. The 3-1 loss to Ukraine was rough, but this month watching that squad was more than we could have ever imagined. To take you back, here is a great highlight reel with all the great moments and also the heavy learning experience that our boys received against Ukraine.
What’s Next?
So I missed writing a recap of the final and I know that’s not what you will want to read at this point. Instead, let’s talk about all the interesting things we have learned about the future of the KNT through this U20 World Cup. I’ll make a list.
Lee Kangin is ready-We wondered about when we would get to see Lee Kangin debut for the senior national team after he was a shock inclusion in the March squad. Now we have our answer. The U20 World Cup Golden Ball winner is ready to be involved with the senior national team full-time. He should play a role off the bench to acclimate, similar to how Bento integrated Paik Seungho, but Kangin is ready. World Cup Qualifying is starting this September and Kangin has all the tools to help this squad create great opportunities to score for Sonny, Uijo, Ppanghoon, and co. He every bit should be tasked to play the CAM/false nine role that got him the Golden Ball in Poland.
The CB Position is Stocked- Finally we can say that we have very strong CBs in the pipeline to work with for years to come. All three of Lee Jisol, Kim Hyunwoo, and Lee Jaeik performed exceptionally well in Poland and should be plenty of depth to play alongside Kim Minjae and Jeong Seunghyun. Even more promising is the fact that Kim Hyunwoo is currently negotiating a permanent transfer to Dinamo Zagreb. He is currently on a 2 year loan from Ulsan Hyundai, but rumors are that Zagreb were so impressed with his play in the youth system and in Poland that they want to sign him permanently as soon as they can. With rumors still swirling that European clubs are interested in Kim Minjae, the future of CB looks bright.
Another San Cho?– Lee Gwangyeon was incredibly good this tournament, continuing the legacy of clutch performances by Korean goalkeepers that Jo Hyeonwoo started last summer. He has pretty impressive reflex save abilities even though he’s on the shorter side for a GK. It’ll be interesting to see how he keeps his form at Gangwon FC.
Tokyo 2020 will be hard to make– Just as the Asian Games 2018 squad was hard to crack, this Tokyo 2020 squad will be hard to crack. You get 18 players for the Olympics, 3 of them can be over 23, and we all know the military ramifications on the line. However, when you see an U20 squad go to the World Cup final with the Olympics coming up the next summer, that medal seems so close you can taste it. Here’s an idea of the 18 players I think Kim Hakbum should take with him to Tokyo.
GK- Lee Gwangyeon, Gu Sungyun(overage)
DF-Choi Jun, Kim Hyun-woo, Lee Jaeik, Lee Jisol, Hwang Taehyun, Lee Kyuhyeok
MF: Lee Kangin, Paik Seungho, Kim Jungmin, Jeon Sejin, Cho Youngwook, Um Wonsang
FW: Kwon Changhoon (Overage), Suk Hyunjun (Overage), Oh Sehun, Jeong Wooyeong
Do you think that squad can bring home a medal? I’m optimistic that the answer is yes. We have just brought home FIFA runner’s up medals, let’s imagine a glorious run to the Olympic final in Tokyo so that we can parade our military exemptions in the face of the world and those silly Japanese players (sorry, I get heated about Japan but I definitely would love to shove Olympic medals in their faces).
That’s enough glory about the U20 World Cup squad. Now we need to address the debacle that was Korea’s FIFA Women’s World Cup performance in France. 0 points, 8 goals conceded, only 1 goal scored. It was hard to watch. (Full disclosure: this was why there were no recaps after Nigeria and Norway. It was hard to write about just how bad they were.)
You’ve seen people like Hal Kaiser and myself talking about it on Twitter, but let’s be clear right now: this was not the players’ fault. The KFA absolutely dropped the ball in preparing this squad for the Women’s World Cup. So this is a postmortem on the KFA’s failure and what needs to be done to prevent it. First, I just want to share the one highlight from France.
Unfortunately, this was in a 2-1 loss where Korea largely dominated Norway but were undone by defensive errors leading to penalties. Sigh, the team had potential in midfield and attack, but a disorganized defense and goalkeeper injury crisis doomed them.
What must change for the Korean Women’s National Team?
First, I think it is time for Yoon Deok-yeo to be sacked. Everything about 2019 preparations for this World Cup screamed Shin Taeyong 2.0. Korea lost most of their friendlies in 2019, rotated incessantly, and failed to develop any cohesive playing style. A 2018 Asian Cup bronze performance that showed good signs of progress wasn’t sustained at all. If anyone is held responsible, it must be the manager. Yoon Deok-yeo should have been sacked right after returning home from France with 0 points. That he hasn’t says everything about how much the KFA cares about women’s football.
Next, whatever happens to the manager, this group of women must pick themselves up and qualify for Tokyo 2020. This is the great issue that Korea is having in succeeding in women’s football. Their exploits against Asian teams have brought them to a FIFA ranking in the top 20. However, it was clear that against teams from around the world, the gap is huge. Korea has failed to improve much when asked to play teams from Europe on a regular basis. They need more experience and Tokyo 2020 is a place to start. In the four years since 2015, women’s football worldwide has made a quantum leap in quality. The Taegeuk Nangja are at risk of being left behind.
Finally, I would like to end on a tiny silver lining. I say tiny because it truly is tiny. One of the reasons why Korea is not improving in women’s football is because they play no friendlies against international opposition. They gather for the yearly Algarve Cup, AFC World Cup/Asian Cup/Olympics qualifying, and then that’s pretty much it. They got invited in 2017 to play the USWNT twice, and then they played Iceland twice in friendlies this year. They now finally have a deal with Shinsegae Duty Free, a large conglomerate, to finally organize 2 friendlies per year. Let’s hope this is just the start of Korean corporations sponsoring more friendlies for women’s football. The Taegeuk Nangja need more experience plain and simple. Let’s hope France is remembered as the turning point towards real change and support for women’s football. Remember, the KFA has submitted a bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup. We cannot host the tournament in 4 years and perform just as poorly as in France.
Michael, is there a specific reason to leave out Lee Seung-woo from the Tokyo2020 squad other than he already has military exemption? Much rather see Choi Minsoo over Gu sungyun. The experience would help but not really keen on using an overage on a position the team isnt lacking.
And Jeong woo yeong?!
Hi Gordon, the Jeong Woo Young omission was a huge mistake. I might edit that! He probably will be in Tokyo!
In terms of including Gu Sungyun, Hakbum used Jo Hyeonwoo as a wildcard to get him exemption and I’m guessing that’s a possibility next year.
I like Lee Seungwoo but I think my policy is the Olympics and Asian Games is that only non-exempt players should be sent to the Games. David and I had this convo recently and he’s with you in terms of the usefulness of Lee Seungwoo. But I want to further the careers of more Korean players so Lee Seungwoo is out. In terms of Choi Minsoo, he’s great and he may even break in Hamburg’s first team soon. However, with his German heritage I am so unsure about if he is even required to do military duty. For example, I am half Korean and I did not have to do military duty because of citizenship reasons obviously. Is he in the same boat as me?
So this is a clear cut rule: if Choi Minsoo doesn’t have to do military duty, Korea doesn’t “need” to call him to play at the Olympics.
Yeah agreed, makes sense the more I look at it. In cases such as Olympics, we want to do well but if I had to choose between winning gold with the best squad we can muster or just bring home a medal with the squad that “needs” to go..i would 100% choose the latter.
Jo hyeon woo proved at 2018WC so he “earned” the call up but has Gu Sungyun show cased the potential to go to Europe or be the number 1 KNT keeper? Especially against Jo Hyeon Woo and Kim Seung gyu?
Well, either way im super glad about our depth in the GK department. As well as our rising CBs!
Love this page
So I cannot say personally whether Gu Sungyun deserves to be given a wildcard spot based on his KNT performance since he hasn’t had any chances from Bento.
However, seasoned J League watchers Takeuchi and Dan Orlowitz always say that Gu Sungyun performs far better in the J League than Kim Seunggyu. Dan told me last summer that he felt that Gu Sungyun was snubbed for the World Cup squad last summer because he is the best Korean J League keeper, better than Kim Jinhyeon as well!
Imagine if Bayern had allowed Jeong Woo Young to play for that U-20 squad… that would’ve been fun to watch
I guarantee we would’ve won the tournament had we been able to play a 2 FW combo of Jeong and Oh SH.
Kim Jung min has military exemption from Asian games last year so I doubt he will be chosen for the Olympics!
Oooh makes sense. Thanks for the catch.
Also, any ideas on why Jeong wooyeong was recently included in the U22 squad for the upcoming Olympic qualifier, but Lee kangin and Paik Seungho were named to the senior team for the WC qualifier? Perhaps to improve the quality of the U22 team a bit? Just wondering when Jeong will make his long anticipated senior team debut…
So we’re going to get into this for our upcoming podcast next week. I think Kangin and Paik are viewed as more ready for the senior team than Jeong. While Jeong is a Freiburg player, they’re still taking it slow with him and playing him at reserve level first. Paik and Kangin are full first team players already so that’s probably why Bento hasn’t brought him to the senior team just yet.
And also the omission of Lee seungwoo from the national team! Was quite shocked to see that, especially with all the players from Europe getting the call up. Ji dongwon as well, but to a lesser extent
So I do not think that Ji Dongwon is going to be a long term part of Bento’s plans. He is incredibly injury prone and didn’t show too much when he was selected in the past few international windows. Unless he has a stellar season for Mainz 05, I don’t expect he’ll get a call up.
In terms of Lee Seung woo, I think he may have asked Bento not to select him so that he could focus on his transfer business. It could also be a sort of Bento move to try to send a message to Seungwoo that he’s not a guaranteed pick either.
Thanks Y for all these comments, welcome to the Tavern Community!
Thanks Michael, been a long time lurker but decided to add some comments today. Appreciate all that you do for the Korean American KFA fanbase!
It’s my pleasure, just having a blast sharing with people like you about the team we love!