WordPress really screwed me over here. For the third time, I try to post this short Listings:
The smell of March Break/Reading Week/whatever its called is in the air here in Quebec. A week of freedom. Phew. What better way to start it off with some footy? Granted, the scheduling gods have been a little tough on us this week, with literally everything – and I mean everything – happening on Saturday morning. Still, there’s a Korean Derby to look forward to! Let’s get right to it.
Courtesy of Korean Footballers Abroad (koreanfootballers.blogspot.com)
| Day | Time (ET) | Player | Club | Opponent | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 7:45 AM | Lee Chung Yong | Crystal Palace | @West Ham | NBCSN |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Hong Jeong Ho | Augsburg | @Hertha Berlin | None |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Ji Dong Won | Augsburg | @Hertha Berlin | None |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Son Heung Min | Bayer Leverkusen | Freiburg | None |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Kim Jin Su | Hoffenheim | Mainz | None |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Koo Ja Cheol | Mainz | @Hoffenheim | None |
| Saturday | 9:30 AM | Park Joo Ho | Mainz | @Hoffenheim | None |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM | Ki Sung Yueng | Swansea | @Burnley | NBC Extra Time |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM | Kim Bo Kyung | Wigan | @Blackpool | None |
| Saturday | 11:00 AM | Suk Hyun Jun | Vitoria Setubal | @CD Nacional | None |
| Off | n/a | Yun Suk Young | QPR |
Lee Chung-Yong and Hong Jeong-Ho are still injured and thus won’t feature.
Ji Dong-Won was subbed off last week and his substitute scored a goal. Whoops. He’s been rather lackluster so he could be dropped to the bench unfortunately.
Son Heung-Min played the Champions League game midweek against Atleti, a great 1-0 win although Son was definitely paid more attention to. That did seem to give Calhanoglu more chances, however. Anyhow, Son should start but could be rested, though I doubt it.
Korean Derby: Kim Jin-Su definitely starts for Hoffenheim, but Koo and Park Joo-Ho should both end up on the bench. Koo is being his inconsistent self again.
Ki Sung-Yueng and Kim Bo-Kyung will both definitely start. Ki is flourishing even more with Jack Cork coming into the squad, while Kimbo had a great game midweek apparently.
Suk Hyun-Jun returns to that random Portuguese island to play his old side.
Ryu Seung-Woo came on 62 minutes against league 2nd-place Darmstadt in a 1-0 loss. Eintracht Braunschweig remain 7 points out of a playoff spot in the 2.Bundesliga.
MIDDLE EAST NEWS
Han Kook-Young played the full 90 in a 2-1 loss against Al Gharafa for Qatar SC. Cho Young-Cheol did not feature as Qatar SC remain in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
Nam Tae-Hee’s Lekhwiya have a chance to overtake league leaders Al Sadd after an awful showing in the ACL by Lekhwiya, losing 3-0 to a Persepolis side with internal problems of their own. (Saturday 11:15am EST/Sunday 1:15am KST)
Also in Qatar, Lee Keun-Ho’s El Jaish go to Al Sailiya. (Saturday 8:45am EST/10:45pm KST)
Over to the UAE for a hot second, as league-leading Al-Ain, home of Asian Cup runner-up Lee Myeong-Joo, will do battle with lower-table side Al Fujairah. (Saturday 8:45am EST/10:35pm KST)
And in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hilal, fresh off of a triumph at home against Lokomotiv Tashkent in the Asian Champions League, will take on relegation scurbs Najran. Look for Kwak Tae-Hwi in that one. (He also played the full 90 in their ACL win.) (Saturday 8:05am/10:05 pm KST)
KFA CUP DRAW Rounds 1-3
No use doing a whole domestic post for this. The 2015 KFA Cup Draw was held for the first three rounds. Round 1 sees the 4 worst K3 Challengers League teams (4th tier), 4 universities and 8 amateur corporate teams taking part. Round 2 has the remaining University and K3 Challengers League teams enter. Last year’s Cinderella story Yeungnam University enter here against Sungkyungkwan University. Can they repeat another magical run to the final 8? Who knows.
Round 3 has the K League Challenge (2nd tier) and the National League (3rd tier) teams enter. The big match of the round sees Challenge sides Gyeongnam FC and Gangwon FC do battle – both teams used to ply their trade in the top tier. Debutants Seoul E-Land play the winner of Match 16 (from the second round), which will be a University team – a relatively easy game for Martin Rennie’s squad.
Round 1: March 28th-29th / Round 2: April 4th-5th / Round 3: April 11th-12th
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOO
South Korean international Ja-Cheol #Koo celebrates his 26th birthday today. #HappyBirthday #Zerofivers @theKFA pic.twitter.com/VlEl0d72ju
— Mainz 05 English (@Mainz05en) February 27, 2015
What games will you watch this weekend Saturday?
overrated Ji on bench duty. Koo overwhelming as usual. Son hasn’t scored in a while so hopefully he will score soon. Jin-soo and Joo-ho started.