Tavern Kickaround: Holding pattern amidst hope and pessimism

The waiting is the hardest part, according to the late Tom Petty. This is the part of any tournament that can be a bit anxious inducing, seeing the results coming in from the other vital opening group matches, from Russia’s demolition of Saudia Arabia’s defense to witnessing plucky Iceland punch above their weight, holding the mighty Argentina and Lionel Messi at bay. Both these games are in some abstract way instructive to team Korea in their pursuit to…how do I put this delicately...not go out of the tournament in spectacular fashion.

Saudi Arabia didn’t represent Asia particularly well. Russia, not expected to go far in their home tournament, exposed their Middle Eastern counterparts, getting 5 goals past them in the tournament opener. Korea’s defense undoubtedly took notice, as the specter of Algeria 4 years ago in Brazil continues hovers over preparations. And yet, as self identified underdogs in Group F, Korea can take heart in the courageous ultra defending of Iceland today.  It doesn’t do a world of good for my bracket ambitions, but Iceland overcame the South American onslaught, worked cohesively not only as a team, but as a total unit to do the miraculous – holding on to a 1:1 draw including a gutsy penalty save (that ordinarily would have been a sure fire goal by a one Lionel Messi).  In the World Cup, always expect the unexpected to happen.

Monday will be the ultimate test to see if Shin Tae-Yong actually can pull the rabbit out of his proverbial magic hat as Korea faces Sweden. If you didn’t get that reference – the closed door friendly with Senegal last week has all been, according to Shin, a smoke and mirrors attempt to unsettle Sweden’s prep for the game. It didn’t work apparently.

Lars Jacobson, who's scouting Korea for Sweden, saw Korea's closed-door training last week in Austria: "They told me to leave, but I found this house.
I asked the owners of the house if I could get in and I saw the whole training without any problem." (via @LudvigHolmberg)

— Steve Han • 한만성 (@realstevescores) June 13, 2018

Who didn’t see that coming?

Here at the Tavern we’re getting ready for a quasi World Cup view party – but at 8am EST on Monday, it’ll be a small but vocal gathering. Over in Koreatown in L.A., the 5am Pacific kickoff time won’t be particularly welcome time for a public view party gathering. AND YET, I’m sure in some quarters, it’ll still be lit. We have a sparse section for World Cup Korea view parties – however IF Korea manages a positive result with Sweden, the chances and the stakes gets real -and I expect more last minute impromptu view parties to get on the public dock around the US and around the world. If you know of public Korea view parties, look for the page/tab in the Tavern for the 2018 World Cup and in the comment section, let us know what events you know of around the world where Tavern goers can congregate to watch together.  (just in: there’s apparently a 6000 capacity size church in L.A. hosting a 5am Korea World Cup watch party. Bloody early for a service, but you were looking for lit – this church will suddenly turn into CLUB KOREA if they score and/or win).

Taking a moment to catch my own breath, I’ve been laying relatively low, witnessing other Tavern contributors -particularly Namu Yoon (behind the scenes) along with Michael Welch and Tim Lee working hard in establishing a Patreon campaign to raise money for taegukwarriors.com future operations.  And many Tavern goers have stepped right up, donating right away to the campaign. I’ve been at a complete loss for words since the launch, seeing the number of people willing enough to help out with their hard earned money.  It’s very humbling and almost surreal to see the appreciation that’s coming back to the Tavern. It’s not a decision we took lightly to start a more robust crowdfunding campaign (with the exception of some limited crowdfunding in the years past to simply cover web hosting costs), all the writers over the years have been toiling with their time and effort – pro bono. All this time, I had been wishing I could repay them for their efforts, but we continued to make this a passion project. It still is, but the paradigm has now shifted. There is money raised – which speaks volumes about the long hours core Tavern writers like Jae Chee, Tim Lee, Jinseok Yang along with the new contributors like Michael Welch, Chi Soo and Kevin Kim (and all the many writers who have contributed / collaborated with us in the past including Takeuchi, Nicole Chung, Evelyn Kim, Tom Marcantonio, Lex Nande, Steve Price, and Steve Han) – all that have collectively built this community.  Without yammering further, I’d like to personally thank everyone who put in more than their 2 cents to the Tavern Patreon campaign. As a Korean who still struggles with the language and the culture that is familiar yet still still apart from me, I remember that I started this journey alone. Yet, after all these years since starting this project in 2012 – with football as a common unifier that bridges the diaspora, I feel more connected than ever … and that means more to me than you can possibly know. From our open Tavern house to yours, where ever in the world you are in, my most humble and sincere 고맙습니다

Ok, emotional time over, let’s talk Korean football support —it’s a broader tent than I imagined – more so when I encounter folks like David Fam who hails from Singapore. He’s a student now studying abroad in Europe, but he supports the KNT as one of a few bright lights representing Asian football on the international stage.  He sent me this essay outlining why Red Devil supporters shouldn’t be so pessimistic about Korea’s chances of advancing from the group. It’s a countervailing opinion piece, good to consider as I prepare glasses of soju for Monday. Check it out below:

-David Fam

Extra time:

Tavern goer and Patreon contributor Lionel Lee asked a damn good question: does the Spanish assistant coaches have any real influence over Shin Tae-Yong?  We mused about this on a Tavern podcast recording last night – we’ll get that posted up on Apple itunes real soon – but while on air my thoughts were that the assistant coaches, in particular Tony Grande (who worked under Del Bosque at Real Madrid and the Spanish National team) were advising Shin well in the Colombia friendly last November, registering a 2-0 win with a 4-4-2 formation; however there was speculation that Shin has sought to wriggle out of Grande’s advice in the experimental tuneups of late. I asked journalist Steve Han his thoughts on the matter and this is what he had to say:

I think they’re more or less serving as consultants for Shin. No one outside the coaching staff would know how much influence they have on decisions, but Shin seems to be working really closely with them.

I actually think Shin deserves some credit for even bringing them on, because Stielike was opposed to the idea of expanding his staff, because in his own words, he didn’t want to deal with “too many opinions.”

Gives you an idea on why Cha Du-ri left the job under Stielike, only to come back when Shin replaced him (Uli Stielike was sacked almost exactly a year ago). Cha left because he said he felt like he didn’t really have a role (under Stielike).

-Steve Han

There you go. Hopefully, Shin is taking proper advisement on the sidelines, and there’s that perspective that supports that narrative.

Life beckons, so I’m ending the roundup early. Quickly though, good news of a sort, United 2026 (Mexico, Canada and the US) winning the bid to host the World Cup (despite Trump nearly sinking the bid with his tweets threatening countries who vote for Morocco’s bid) – in 8 years the spectacle will return to North America.  Tavern goers in this hemisphere will have a better chance to witness the KNT (barring a massive collapse in qualifying). We’ll be back for more on Sweden, a podcast and musings on Korea in the 2018 World Cup. All eyes will be on the team Monday.  We at the Tavern has been through 2 World Cup cycles and to quote the Grateful Dead, it’s been a long strange trip. Chal ga-yo and see you soon.