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Westsider Rider

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Final Thoughts on Korea's World Cup 2006

The much anticipated 2006 World Cup ended for Korea with their 2-0 loss to Switzerland last Friday. A lot of Koreans are complaining about officiating and protesting and all that but it's no use and makes us look bad. Sure the team didn't get the breaks this year but they did get a lot of them in 02 so there's no reason to whine about it. Also France should have won the second game as well as the fact that due to France's 2-0 win over Togo only a victory would have secured a berth in the Round of 16.

There are positives to be looked at from this World Cup. By finishing 1-1-1 in group play, Korea secured its first ever World Cup win in Europe after falling behind 1-0 to Togo. They showed the ability to play from behind with winning that game as well as coming back to tie France with the late equaliser. But, we can't forget the negatives as well as Korea is just not on that level yet to compete with the big time soccer nations. 2002 was an aberration which will probably never happen again because home field advantage is so huge in soccer, I hope I'm wrong about this but I don't think so.

I'm no soccer expert by any means but watching the other teams play compared to Korea there is just a huge gap in skill level it seems. There is also a difference in the style of play as it seems Korea never attacks up the middle as other teams do which allow for better scoring opportunities. They are always coming up the side and throwing crosses in the front of the net but that style doesn't suit their personnel. There has to be a big striker there ready to head in those crosses but there is none on the Korean team. Hopefully there will be some adjustments made in regards to that next time. The assistant coach from 02 and 06, Pim Verbeek has taken over as the new head coach, let's see if he even makes it to the 2010 World Cup since it's only a 2 year contract.

I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of this World Cup especially Friday morning's Germany-Argentina match. I really think Argentina is the better team but with homefield advantage Germany will be tough but still I think I'll stick with my prediction of a Argentina-Brazil final with Brazil as the winner.

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