Call Ups

June 2nd, 2011 | by: Jae | Comments Off

Cho has officially released his 27 man roster for the June friendlies against Serbia (6/3) and Ghana (6/7). The usual suspects are there plus a few new faces.

Goalkeepers
Jung Sung-Ryong (Suwon), Kim Jin-Hyeon (Cerezo Osaka), Kim Young-Kwang (Ulsan)

Defenders
Lee Jung-Soo (Al Sadd), Hong Jeong-Ho(Jeju), Lee Jae-Sung (Ulsan), Lee Sang-Duk (Daegu), Hwang Jae-Won (Suwon), Cha Du-Ri (Celtic), Park Won-Jae (Jeonbuk), Kim Young-Kwon (Omiya), Kim Jae-Sung (Pohang)

Midfielders
Shin Hyung-Min (Pohang), Lee Yong-Rae (Suwon), Yoon Bit-Garam (Gyeongnam), Kim Jung-Woo (Sangju), Ki Sung-Yueng (Celtic), Ko Myong-Jin (Seoul), Koo Ja-Cheol (Wolfsburg), Nam Tae-Hee (Valenciennes), Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton), Lee Seung-Hyun (Jeonbuk), Kim Bo-Kyung (Cerezo Osaka), Lee Keun-Ho (Gamba Osaka)

Forwards
Park Chu-Young (Monaco), Ji Dong-Won (Chunnam), Jung Jo-Gook (Auxerre)

The usual suspects, Jung Sung-Ryong, Park Chu-Young, Lee Chung-Yong, Ki Sung-Yueng, Cha Du-Ri, and Koo Ja-Cheol are all there plus a few new K-League guys. With the first match against Serbia less than 24 hours away, news has come out about Cho’s planned tactics and starting XI.

Formation: 4-1-4-1

Park Chu-Young

Lee Keun-Ho / Kim Jung-Woo / Lee Yong-Rae / Lee Chung-Yong

Ki Sung-Yueng

Kim Young-Kwon / Lee Jung-Soo / Hong Jeong-Ho / Cha Du-Ri

Jung Sung-Ryong

Despite the fiddling with the formation, I expect the team will play pretty much the same as it has under Cho. When attacking it’ll function like a 4-3-3, and when defending it’ll look like a 4-5-1. Kim Jung-Woo will be a key to the attacking success of the team as I’m still not convinced that Park C.Y. is a true number 9. I actually thought that Jo Dong-Won had done enough at the Asian Cup to warrant a shot at keeping his spot up top with Park C.Y. replacing Park Ji-Sung in a more floating attacking role, but Ji D.W. hasn’t featured much for Cho since Qatar. Notably missing from the starting XI is Cho favorite Koo Ja-Cheol. Since his winter move to Wolfsburg, Koo has not played much and Cho has stated that he is not starting due to the fact that he, “has not found his rhythm”. It will be interesting to see how Koo alters the XI when he does find his rhythm. Most likely he would push out either Kim J.W. or, more likely, Lee Keun-Ho. Time will tell though.

However, there is still the matter of the match against Serbia. Serbia is missing several big name players, most notably, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic. Other names not on the squad list are Milos Krasic, Branislav Ivanovic, Nikola Zigic, and Milan Jovanovic. The team is comprised mostly of talented young players such as Adem Ljajic, Zoran Tosic, and Neven Subotic. Despite Serbia’s lack of experience (only three players with more than 30 caps), I expect a tough test from the European side. It wasn’t that long ago that Serbia was on their way to upsetting the traditional powers in Europe. At South Africa they had the potential to make some waves, but under performed.

Hopefully it will be a fun match and we’ll get to see the team take another step towards 2014, at least in terms of the team chemistry and tactics. After Serbia, it’s Ghana on June 7th.