First Call Ups for Choi

February 19th, 2012 | by: Jae | Comments Off

New boss Choi Kang-Hee has announced his first call ups since being named South Korea manager. The former Jeonbuk Motors man has called 25 players for the friendly (in Jeonju) against Uzbekistan and the crucial qualifier (in Seoul) against Kuwait. The list has a strong K-League tone with only a few overseas players making it. A few familiar names are missing (for various reasons).

Position Name Club Caps/Goals
GK Kim Young-Kwang Ulsan Hyundai 14/-10
GK JUNG Sung-Ryong Suwon Samsung 40/-32
GK KWOUN Sun-Tae Sangju Sangmu 0/0
DF LEE Jung-Soo Al-Sadd(QAT) 47/5
DF KIM Hyung-Il Sangju Sangmu 2/0
DF . KIM Chang-Soo Busan I-park 2/0
DF KWAK Tae-Hwi Ulsan Hyundai 21/4
DF PARK Won-Jae Jeonbuk Hyundai 7/0
DF CHOI Hyo-Jin Sangju Sangmu 14/1
DF HONG Jeong-Ho Jeju Utd. 14/0
DF OH Beom-Seok Suwon Samsung 39/2
DF CHO Sung-Hwan Jeonbuk Hyundai 3/0
MF KIM Do-Heon National Police Agency 59/11
MF Choi Tae Wook FC Seoul 29/4
MF KIM Sang-Sik Jeonbuk Hyundai 58/2
MF KIM Chi-Woo Sangju Sangmu 23/2
MF HAN Sang-Wun Seongnam Ilhwa 0/0
MF KI Sung-Yueng Celtic(SCO) 44/5
MF LEE Keun-Ho Ulsan Hyundai 39/10
MF SHIN Hyung-Min Pohang Steelers 7/0
MF HA Dae-Sung FC Seoul 2/0
MF KIM Jae-Sung Sangju Sangmu 13/2
FW KIM Shin-Wook Ulsan Hyundai 6/0
FW LEE Dong-Gook Jeonbuk Hyundai 86/25
FW PARK Chu-Young Arsenal(ENG) 57/23

Notable absences are Cha Du-Ri, Ji Dong-Won, Koo Ja-Cheol, and Son Heung-Min. Koo is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Cha and Ji due to lack of playing time at their clubs, while Son is excluded probably due to age and experience.

Notably here is Park Ju-Young, Lee Dong-Gook, and Ki Sung-Yueng. Lee Dong-Gook, actually isn’t that surprising given his experience with the national team (86 appearances, the most of any called played), his history with Choi, and his importance at Jeonbuk. However, when you consider he hasn’t been terribly impressive for Korea, one wonders if he should be counted on as the potential hero we need right now. Ki is a slight surprise given he’s falled down the pecking order at Celtic and is also coming off an injury. It is certainly possible that he could have been in the notable absences list, but there definitely isn’t a quality replacement for his role at the moment. In the last match, where Ki missed due to illness, the team looked lost in midfield with no player to spread the play.

Park Ju-Young. So important that he gets his own paragraph. Despite not featuring, virtually at all (save for one Carling Cup appearance and one Champions League appearance), for Arsenal he still gets a call. Likely due to the number of goals that he scores for Korea. Will he start? Who knows? It’s certainly possible that Choi will turn to Lee Dong-Gook instead. But, Park is the captain (although that may change) and his record speaks for itself. But is he match fit? Is he ready to cope with the pace and emotions of a must-win qualifier after not even making the bench lately for Arsenal? Questions. So many questions.

Good calls? Bad calls? Someone missed who shouldn’t have? Someone here who shouldn’t be? What do you think?