Koreans Abroad: Midweek Cup Schedule & Weekend Recap

Put out a limited schedule with just enough action to warrant this over free form. Fox Soccer hasn't listed their schedule yet so we'll see which match they show and leave the others to online/FSP.

Day	Time (KST)	Player	Club	Opponent	TV
Thursday	8:00 AM	Korea	U17 Round of 16	Belgium	TBD (Fox)
Thursday	3:00 AM	Hong Jeong Ho	Augsburg	@Freiburg (Cup)	None
Thursday	3:00 AM	Ji Dong Won	Augsburg	@Freiburg (Cup)	None
Thursday	3:00 AM	Koo Ja Cheol	Augsburg	@Freiburg (Cup)	None
Thursday	3:00 AM	Ryu Seung Woo	Bayer Leverkusen	@Viktoria Koln (Cup)	ESPN3 / Deportes
Thursday	3:00 AM	Park Joo Ho	Dortmund	SC Paderborn (Cup)	ESPN3
Thursday	4:45 AM	Lee Chung Yong	Crystal Palace	@Man City (Cup)	BeIn

Korea U17 -- They move into the knockouts and face a Belgium side who haven't impressed so far. But anything can happen in these knockout matches and Korea has struggled to put the ball in the goal as well. But being rested should help them as the match wears on.

Hong Jeong Ho -- I imagine he will get a look in an attempt to fix their defensive woes vs Dortmund though he might be saved for Bundesliga action.

Ji Dong Won -- I expect him to start... the question will be at what position. There are so many holes in the Augsburg attack, and I'd prefer him up top, but I think we'll see him out wide.

Koo Ja Cheol -- I think he should rest after lots of minutes but Weinzierl may be looking to get this going at the cup with a stronger lineup. We'll see but he'll be in the squad either way.

Ryu Seung Woo -- Perhaps we will have a RSW sighting midweek but it wouldn't surprise me not to see him at all. Not sure how strong a squad Leverkusen will bring, but with lots of competitions going on, one could hope for a rotated side.

Park Joo Ho -- I think he will start this one though he could be on the bench.

Lee Chung Yong -- Given quality of opposition and doing well in the table, does Pardew risk a stronger side in pursuit of the cup? There have also been two straight losses so momentum building with a victory may be another factor. I think all those factors may mean that Lee Chung Yong misses out or maybe only makes the bench vs what would be a normal opportunity to play in cup.

Weekend Recap Oct 23rd

So while Korean U17 kids continue to impress, its a bit more of a disappointing weekend when it comes to the pros. With cup matches coming up, it may be time for many of the guys to work their way back into the mix for league action. I'll give a brief overview of England U17 match at the end.

Park Joo Ho -- An unused sub.

Son Heung Min -- Still out injured disappointingly. Hopefully we hear of a return to training soon.

Hong Jeong Ho -- Was an unused sub. Hopefully he's getting to 100% fitness.

Ji Dong Won -- Came in and played on the right wing. Unfortunately, the scoreline was already blown out, and Augsburg was really struggling to do anything and Ji had little opportunities with the ball, and did little with the ones that he did.

Koo Ja Cheol -- A strong performance from Koo as perhaps one of the few (and possibly only) outfield players to not embarrass themselves as Augsburg lost 5-1. Koo provided one of the few reliable means of getting the ball up the pitch, whether it was with on target passing or just dribbling up himself.

Ryu Seung Woo -- Not in the squad.

Kim Jin Su -- An unused sub.

Lee Chung Yong -- Not in the squad and hopefully he gets a chance to earn a look this week.

Yun Suk Young -- Of course not in the squad after Ramsey's comments midweek.

Suk Hyun Jun -- Started and played about 80 minutes in a 0-2 win.

Ki Sung Yueng -- Positioned as the deepest midfielder, he put on a performance similar to his first season at Swansea. While he showed moments of his class and few mistakes, he also spent a disproportionate amount of time defending, and looked at times as if he turned down opportunities to press forward in favor of staying back. It was a bit frustrating to watch and hopefully Monk unties his hands a bit going forward.

Korea U17 -- A very sloppy performance, but a determined defensive effort helped to offset a weak attack and with a draw, they drew a determined England and drew their group. With several changes to the starting XI, Korea struggled to control the match. In the few moments that they started to assert themselves, they did create very good chances which were left unfinished. The lack of finishing throughout this tournament has been one of the few points of frustration. But as they have all tournament, while their defense has let in attackers into dangerous areas, effort and mental concentration has ensured that there has always been another line of defense waiting to clear it out and three clean sheets in this sort of tournament is very impressive.
Korea is left with several big names in the bracket, with Belgium, France and Germany ahead if things go as expected. The flipside to that situation is that there will be great opportunities to make a splash on the worldwide stage as well as with the scouts if they can do well.