Semi Finals Heartbreak

November 24th, 2010 | by: Jae | Comments Off

The boys crashed out of the Asian Games semifinals with a 1-0 loss to the U.A.E. in stoppage time in extra time. They will play Iran for the bronze medal.

A disappointing match for many reasons. We created so many chances but, weren’t able to put them away. It didn’t help Housani Ali Khaseif (U.A.E. keeper) seemed to be in inspired form. The curse (for the men’s team at least) goes on as a major international title remains elusive. The other disappointing aspect is the possible future for the senior squad. The still doesn’t appear to be an answer to our problem of finding a clinical finisher to partner Park Chu-Young. Another disappointment was young Yoon Bitgaram. The highly rated youngster burst onto the scene in the friendly against Nigeria after South Africa and was widely tipped to be a key member of the Asian games squad. In the end though he barely featured for Hong Myung-Bo’s side. I’m not saying that he’s a flop, but you figure he’d be able to get a spot in what is essentially a U-21 side.

One other troubling thing I noticed with this squad is that they seem to have the same issues that the senior squad has. Granted I’m basing this purely on watching highlights from the matches, but I’m seeing the same thing. Very good build up play, occasionally suspect defense, and woeful finishing. The bright side is that it seems like we have some talented young midfielders coming up, but our lack of a forward is concerning.

If you’d like to watch a long highlights video it’s below.