Weekend Roundup + Park Ji-Sung Assist

Fashionably late: we got the roundup of Korean footballers in Europe and in Korea…

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K League Classic

March 15

FT Incheon United 0 – 1 Jeonbuk Motors
FT Busan I’Park 3 – 1 Pohang Steelers  
FT Seongnam 0 – 0 Seoul

March 16

FT Ulsan 3 – 0 Gyeongnam  
FT Suwon Bluewings 2 – 2 Sangju Sangmu  
FT Jeonnam Dragons 1 – 2 Jeju United

K-League scores from Soccerway.com

Tavern points from the weekend:

  • Park Ji-Sung’s headed assist was absolutely crucial to PSV’s 2-1 win at Vitesse Arnhem – take a look at the video highlight starting at :50 seconds in…
  • Ki had quite a decent performance – and Poyet continues his experiment of bringing Ki further up front from his usual deep mid position, but Sunderland could only manage a scoreless draw with Crystal Palace despite their dominance in the game. Ki nearly opened his account early in the 9th minute, driving in the box and shooting (or passing) across goal -Fletcher wasn’t able to react in time to knock it in. The 30th minute saw Ki shoot for distance, his 30 shot went over the crossbar. Fast forward to the 82nd minute, Ki’s excellent through pass to Borini in traffic gave the Italian the best last chance to score – but his shot hit the crossbar -followed by another Borini shot that was close but over the bar. Fletcher and Altidore continues to be bereft of ideas on how to score for the Blackcats.
  • Park Joo Ho initially on the left wing, then LB in Mainz’ comeback 2-4 win at Hoffenheim.  Both Park and Koo played well -but it was Okazaki who took his turn as hero with a double in the 2nd half.
  • Son Heung-Min had a chance to take the lead for Leverkusen against the seemingly unstoppable Bayern Munich – but he missed. In an interview with Bundesliga News, on the missed opportunity, “If I had scored and Bayern had gone 1-0 down, they might have taken a few more risks and we may have created a few more chances than we did. It’s a big shame.”  When asked about morale, “I’m part of the team, so of course I feel bad. (Teammates) have been very supportive though – they told me I always score [those types of chances] in training, and that I have to put [the miss] behind me and move forward. It’s difficult to get it out of your system. It’s pretty frustrating but it’s important to move on.”  Well said- time to kick ass against Hoffenheim next week…
  • Close, but Augsburg -a surprise contender for a European qualifying spot -fell short against Schalke 2-1. Here’s ESPNFC on Ji’s impact coming into the game in the 75th minute: “Ji Dong-Won came on and sustained Augsburg’s search for an equaliser, with Fahrmann increasingly in the firing line…they were ultimately unable to find a goal, though, as Schalke got away with a fortunate win.”
  • Meanwhile despite the loss to Brighton, one player looking spritely was Lee Chung-Yong. Back to ESPNFC, after Brighton threatened first, “Bolton then hit back after Chung-Yong Lee and Lukas Jutkiewicz combined in the Seagulls area, and it took a heroic block from defender Lewis Dunk to keep striker Jutkiewicz at bay.”  After Brighton’s Buckley drew blood first, “(it) forced the Wanderers into being more attacking-minded. Lee had placed a shot from range which was tipped over by Thomas Kuszczak. The former Manchester United stopper was then on hand to save David Wheater’s bullet header that came from the South Korean international’s corner.”  After constant pressure in Brighton’s half, Lee looked like he found the equalizer: “In a crowded area, Lee got a shot away, which deflected off Joe Mason into the back of the net. But, despite the jubilation, the linesman had his flag up for offside.That disallowed goal seemed to deflate the home side and five minutes later Brighton doubled their lead.”  After a gallant fight, Lee’s time was up in the 72nd minute – replaced by Andre Moritz. Several half chances wasn’t enough and Bolton lost it at Reebok Stadium 0-2.
  • Ooh…ahh!  Good win by Busan IPark over Pohang. A tough fixture and a good result for Jae’s side.
  • Tavern patron Daniel brought this to my attention – I had previously retweeted about John Duerden’s rad article detailing the historic significance to one of the biggest haniljeon of the past century  -Korea vs Japan’s qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup. Do check out the article here!

 

Alright -so this isn’t football related but the epicenter of the indie rock world each year in March centers in Austin, Texas for the SXSW festival. Koream blogged about a Seoulsonic Showcase last Friday with a number of indie bands from Korea, including Smacksoft and Love X Stereo. Always good to see that Korea isn’t just about K-pop bands.

Again, I keep hinting about a post on Park Joo-Ho and his future report to military duty that will force him to leave his starring role at Mainz.  Is there a new possible solution that could keep Park in Europe?  Keep a lookout, I’m hoping to get that out at the Tavern later this week…

Meanwhile, at the physical Tavern, the kitchen nearly collapsed into the basement – which is my reason for the late roundup.  The flipper who sold me the key to the tavern cut some essential floor joists to install a central air duct system. The Tavern wife noticed 2 weeks ago that the floor seemed to be sloping. Looking in the basement to horror and dismay, the floor joists above kitchen were cracking and indeed the kitchen had sunk about half an inch towards the basement. A few days of cursing, heroic repair work by my contractor -and some electrical work by yours truly to move some wires and light fixtures out of the way -followed by more cursing, the Tavern kitchen is now safe from imminent collapse. Tavern lesson: if you plan on buying a house or tavern – get a damn good home inspector.

About Roy Ghim 454 Articles
The old Tavern Owner

7 Comments

  1. There was also a 4.4 magnitude Earthquake here in Tavern studio LA. One of the many perks of living in the west coast.

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