Friendly v Egypt?

[Holyjoe]

I think Korea are lining up a friendly match against Egypt ahead of the first qualifier against Kuwait, maybe on the 4th February. I'm guessing it would be at home seeing as the qualifying match is only five days later...

[MinnesotaUlsan]

Is this just speculation on your part Holyjoe, or is this really going to happen?
It would be nice to have another game down here in our neck of the woods. (I am going to the game in Busan this weekend.) But something closer to home, say a 10 minute walk (to Munsu Stadium,) would be cool too.

I wouldn't mind catching another national team game. It makes for a long winter down here, when the K-League is over.

[Holyjoe]

There was something about it written on the "short stories" section of the KFA website earlier this morning, about playing Egypt on February 4th with a time and place still to be confirmed.
Probably nothing in it though as even the good old folks at Soccerworld seem to have missed the news

[MinnesotaUlsan]

Well you never know as they say.
It may still happen. I can't see them risking an injury in a friendly 5 days before an important match. But if it did happen it might be good for some of the younger players to get some time and for the coach to get another look at them.

Like I said it would be nice if it does happen, if they would play it down here.

[nyujeelandsaram]

They have to play warm up games though. They can't go into it cold turkey and the game v Germany is hardly a warmup as it's basically Korea C taking to the pitch.

[MinnesotaUlsan]

Good point NJ. You're right, the match with Germany is too far away to quallify as a good warm up. And like you said it is the C team that is going to play them.

Where is my head?

[SteveW]

Problem is that none of the foreign players would be competing in it so it would still be a B game at best.

Its a weird time for the NT... they're going to play Germany then off to the US.

Meanwhile the foreigners are probably on winter shutdown in Europe, those in the J-LEague are doing nothing and Goldmember has nobody to tell the players what to do in Korean.

Erm....good luck.

[nyujeelandsaram]

I know we already discussed this but how many days before a match do the nat players have to be released by their clubs?

5 days isn't it?

Sucks that clubs can hold a national teams fortunes at their mercy.

Well kind of.

Same for both teams.

[Holyjoe]

The KFA have confirmed this game on their website (good to know that I didn't imagine this possible game!) for 4th February, but they haven't announced the venue yet.

[MinnesotaUlsan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 4th of Feb. a Friday. Damn! Even if by some strange twist of luck they were to play that game down here in Ulsan, or even somewhere close. I wouldn't be able to go! Sometimes this working in the hogwan thing can really get in the way of being a football fan. Ya know.

[IconsFanatic]

Don't blame yourself, blame the daft KFA, who seem intent on minimising spectator numbers.

[Holyjoe]

Sangam has been confirmed as the venue for this game, with an 8pm kick-off.

[Holyjoe]

Korea 0-1 Egypt

Only caught the last wee bit of this live but watched a re-run earlier today... not impressive, but then Egypt are no slouches either.

Football Team Lose 1-0 to Egypt

times.hankooki.com/lpage/sports/200502/kt2005020422551411620.htm

By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

The South Korean national football team gave another grim indicator for the World Cup qualifier, as they were defeated 1-0 by Egypt in a friendly match at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Though they were missing some star players such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo of PSV Eindhoven and Seol Ki-hyeon of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, the loss proved that some significant improvements are needed before Wednesday¡¯s World Cup qualifier against Kuwait.

The Jo Bonfrere¡¯s squad have been winless since December¡¯s dramatic 3-1 win over Germany, with two draws and two losses.

Egypt forward Emad Abdel Nabi scored the game¡¯s only goal in the 13th minute on a rebound from South Korean defender Park Jae-hong.

Kwangju Sangmu striker Lee Dong-gook led South Korea¡¯s attack line in the first half, while Numancia¡¯s Lee Chun-soo and another Sangmu player Chung Kyung-ho gave some support from the wings. Veteran defender Yoo Sang-chul, who had said that he would not be fit to play the game last week, played at center-back but was replaced after the first half as he failed to stop Egypt¡¯s attackers led by Mohamed Aboutraika.

Defender Park Dong-hyuk opened the match with a midrange shot in the eighth minute, but it was the visitors who shook the net five minutes later.

Amr Zaki drove into the left side of the box and passed to Aboutraika who unleashed a low rocket. Defender Park Jae-hong slid to block Aboutraika¡¯s shot a few meters away from the goal, but ended up feeding Abdel Nabi, who rushed in time to put the ball into the net.

Lee Chun-soo looked for an equalizer in the 35th minute when he curled a free kick from 20 meters, which was just wide. Mohamed Barakat could have added another goal for the visitors five minutes later, but Lee Woon-jae managed to punch the long-range shot away from the net.

After Cho Jae-jin of Shimizu S-Pulse and Yoo Kyoung-ryol of Ulsan Hyundai replaced Lee Dong-gook and Yoo in the second half, South Korea raised their possession on the ball but were still unable to find the net.

Cho met a crucial moment with seven minutes left to the whistle when Kim Do-hun robbed a cross, Egyptian goalie Nader El-Sayed dived to deflect his header.

Wednesday¡¯s match will kick off at 8 p.m. at the same venue.

[MinnesotaUlsan]

Well I hate to be the one to do this, but I'm going to ask the question no-one wants to ask.

Can South Korea finish first in their group and go on to the World Cup Finals?

If you want my answer after watching the replay of the Friday night game. I say. No.

Sorry. I managed to watch the replays of the friendly games in the U.S. (Lord knows each one was on something like 100 times each.) And the while I know some of the big names were missing, the squad didn't look that good. If the main bulk of your national team players can't get it together...there are problems.

Friday night's game didn't go along way to impress me either. What happened to that squad that looked good playing against Germany? Where are those guys? If I remember right that squad was made up of mostly guys who don't play over seas. (Cha Do-ri, was the only over seas player home for that was he not?)

Hey I want to see Korea do well. But I wonder are they counting too much, on these guys from Europe to come home and carry the squad? Because if they are they are going to be in a whole lot of trouble. Because the rest of the boys aren't pulling their weight.

Hopefully they can get it together before Wednesday.

[SteveW]

MinnesotaUlsan said:

Well I hate to be the one to do this, but I'm going to ask the question no-one wants to ask.

Can South Korea finish first in their group and go on to the World Cup Finals?.

Luckily they don't have to. As long as they don't finish last in the group they still have a chance and the top TWO qualify automatically.

Personally can't see them finishing worse than 2nd.