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.
