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South Koreans Abroad

December 23, 2010 — by Sean

Seeing as part of the CultFootball family is currently enveloped in all things Korean, it seems as good a time as any to work up a little overview of the mother country’s most important players overseas (especially considering the conversation about the Reds that just happened over roast gui). Let’s break it down, list style:

Son Heung-Min Hamburger SV – An 18 yr old striker who has earned the affectionate nickname “The Korean Müller” for a rash of goals in the Bundesliga preseason before he picked up an injury that sat him out for a few months. On his first game back this season he scored against Koln, making him the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history.

Cha Du-Ri Celtic – The 30 yr old is well traveled, having been born in Germany then playing for Bayer Leverkusen, Eintract Frankfurt, and a couple others before landing at Celtic this year. He started his career as a winger, but shifted to a right back midway through his career. He sees limited time in Glasgow but with his experience he is an excellent option in a pinch.

Kim Nam-il Tom Tomsk – At 33 years the defensive midfielder is invaluable to the Russian side, breaking up opposing attacking play and distributing calmly to start the offense. He was well known in Korea during the 2002 World Cup, where he managed to earn hordes of female followers for being a sexy bad boy. He’s generally outspoken and doesn’t seem to give a damn about the Confucian backbone of Korean culture, speaking to elders as if they were his equals…the maniac!

Park Ji-Sung Manchester United – Undoubtedly the best-known Korean playing anywhere in the world, the 29 yr old winger is a mainstay of Sir Alex’s side, and he’s been key in United maintaining top marks this season. United picked him from PSV Eindhoven where he’d scored 13 goals in 60-odd games. He’s quick, plays with intelligence, and along with Giggs and Scholes has become one of the old men of United, brought out when the team needs an injection of experienced quality. We could go on for some time on this one, but you probably come in knowing enough about him already.

Commentary News

Landon Donovan Takes a Rest

December 22, 2010 — by Sean

After his fantastic showing in Liverpool last winter, Evertonians were abuzz over bringing the little speedster back to Goodison. They weren’t alone. Plenty of us in the States were hoping for his return to the people’s club, and a good many of us were hoping for a more permanent move. Everton is a club that’s easy to follow for the drama alone – they’ve a solid squad with an attractive style that tends to get down before fighting back in the second half of the season. Donovan as part of that struggle made for great drama, and his quality displayed on such a big stage brought some tiny increase in respect for the game coming out of america.

Were the Merseysiders really that enamored of the man? Just check out the 400 pages of comments in this Everton forum: Sir Landon of Donovan.

But while he would’ve been very welcome on loan, Landon has sat himself out for the winter, and who can really blame him? He’s played almost nonstop for two years, what with the spring-fall MLS season, loans to Bayern Munich then Everton in the winters, and the World Cup last summer, he’s had all of 2 months off out of 24. Let’ snot forget he’s pushing thirty, and those muscles and joints starts to ache all the more at the turn of one’s third decade (just ask anyone in La Liga Fabulosa).

So we’ll see him again with the Galaxy come Spring, and maybe he’ll have Ronaldinho alongside him in attack? According to certain sources, the Galaxy have made a $40M offer to Milan for the chubby Brazilian. We’ll see about that, but one thing is for certain, Donovan will stay in LA for the time being.

Commentary

Copa del Rey Round of 16 – Barcelona-Bilbao & Valencia-Villareal

December 21, 2010 — by Suman — 1

The Round of 16 (Octavos) of the 2010-11 Copa del Rey (official name: Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad El Rey Don Juan Carlos I, i.e., “Championship of Spain – His Majesty King Juan Carlos I’s Cup”) begins today. Two attractive matchups will be televised in the US this afternoon, with two more to follow tomorrow afternoon.

The four teams playing this afternoon are among the top eight in the current La Liga table (Barcelona #1, Villareal #2, Valencia #4, and Athletic Bilbao #8). As usual, all times ET:

Tuesday, Dec 21

2:00pm

Ath Bilbao v Barcelona (L)

Spain Copa del Rey

ESPN3, ESPND

4:00pm

Valencia v Villarreal (L)

Spain Copa del Rey

ESPN3, ESPND

Barcelona, of course, has been playing better than anyone–certainly better than any club right now, but perhaps as well as any club side ever. So even though Athletic Bilbao is a strong squad, it’ll be a huge shock if Barcelona doesn’t win at home (the return legs will be played in two weeks, so Barcelona will make the trip up to Basque country then). Interestingly, Barcelona and Bilbao are the two most successful clubs in the Copa del Rey. Barcelona has lifted the Cup 25 times, Bilbao 23. The two Madrid clubs are 3rd and 4th; see here.

Of course, it will be quite a shock if we end up with anything other than a Real Madrid-Barcelona matchup in the final this year–although last spring it was Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid in the final, with Sevilla lifting the Cup.

The other matchup this afternoon is quite intriguing: a Valencia squad that has advanced to the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League, and sits 4th in La Liga (despite selling off star strikers David Villa and David Silva over the summer); against a Villareal squad that sits just above them in 3rd–what Side Lowe called “Villareal’s miracle.”

Two more matches will be televised tomorrw:

Wednesday, Dec 22

2:00pm

Atl Madrid v Espanyol (L)

Spain Copa del Rey

GolTv

4:00pm

Real Madrid v Levante (L)

Spain Copa del Rey

GolTv

Commentary

Attack of the Snoods

December 21, 2010 — by Sean

It’s very cold in England these days. Well, very cold FOR England at least. All that snow and gusting northern winds makes a chilly day’s work for the men in shorts. Long socks take care of part of the leg, wicking compression shorts cover the rest. More thermal material for the chest, but what about the poor naked neck?

Enter: the snood. First seen warming the adam’s apple of Turin fashionisto Gigi Buffon (not to forget Francesco Totti’s contribution), the plush neck cozy has made an impact in active play in this year’s Prem campaign. We may have let it pass if not for the abundance of them in the City v Everton match: Carlos Tevez may have been the first to don the floppy piece of fabric for City, but in this latest game he was joined by teammates Balotelli, Toure and Silva. You’ve also got Chamakh and Nasri wearing them at Arsenal, and Maxi and Reina over at ‘pool.

For now it’s only foreign-born players from warmer climates, but given the tendency for winter to become colder in January and February, it’s only a matter of time before an englishman falls. Odds suggest it’ll be James Milner, both because of peer pressure at City as much as for him trying to disguise his complete lack of a neck.

Commentary Video

Borussia Dortmund, Eintract Frankfurt and Ricardo Clark

December 19, 2010 — by Sean

Thanks to Jet Blue’s DirectTV feed I was able to catch Borussia Dortmund’s second only loss of the Bundesliga season, to Eintract Frankfurt. We in the CultFootball bullpen have been meaning to spend more time with the German league, but with our attention split between england, spain, italy and all the cups, sacrifices had to be made. Amazing how a cross-country flight can provide such needed pockets of time.

Dortmund have an interesting history, having had some significant successes in the 90s with consecutive league titles followed the next year with a Champions League win over Zidane’s Juventus, and a subsequent Intercontinental Cup win over Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Going into the Christmas break they’re 10 points above their closest rival in the league though they were unceremoniously dumped from the Europa Cup by Sevilla.

Commentary History They Reminisce Video

La Magica Roma: 1982-1984

December 17, 2010 — by Simeone — 1

I am an hardcore fan of the “magica” Roma…I fell in love with the “giallorossi” (“red-yellow”) when I was a kid, 10 years old (1980), Roma-Udinese 0-0, at the old Olimpic Stadium with my mum and dad. We got there at the last minute and we could only find standing “seats”, at the bottom of the Curva Nord (the other curve, Curva Sud, is the home of Roma’s fans). Tw years later Italy won the World Cup, defeating Argentina with Passarella and an already famous Maradona. (Gentile, the rough italian defender, still has a piece of his jersey!) Then Italy-Brazil, 3-2, an amazing game, with three goals by Rossi (and a great counterattack goal by Antognoni disallowed)….I am talking about the great Brazil of Zico, Falcao (a Roma’s player by then), Socrates, Junior, Eder….I think one of the best games ever by the Azzurri, second only to the 1970 semifinal victory against Germany (4-3 in overtime). Poland of Lato in the semifinal was a joke and then the usual win against Germany…we rarely (never?) lost against Germany in the World Cup.

There was always a party in the streets during that summer of 1982 in Rome, Italian flags everywhere, people crazy rallying for hours after each game…and remember that we barely made it through the first round, with a tie against Cameroon.

Well, a few months later, in the ’82-83 Serie A season, Liedholm (Swedish coach), Falcao (5), Conti (7), Di Bartolomei (10), and Tancredi (goalie) lead the Roma squad to the second scudetto after 40 years!! Nobody removed their flags from the windows and balconies, they just added the Roma flag!!! I remember those days with a lot of joy. I was 12….still a kid. Me and my dad going to the stadium by subway, then bus, sometimes walking for a couple of miles just for the heck of it (waiting for the bus was boring and we were usually early for the game, since the sooner we got there, the better seats we could get). Bringing paninis with us, spending hours in the stadium, cutting newspapers to use when the teams stepped into the field, singing the Roma anthem by Venditti (see below). Many times my cousins came along, as well as some friends from school, but it was mainly me and my dad…always there.

Commentary

Matches to Watch This Weekend (Dec 18-20)

December 17, 2010 — by Suman

For our US-based CultFootballers, see below for our televised/streaming picks for this weekend: 11 matches in Europe (4 in England, 4 in Italy, 2 in Spain, 1 in France); plus, live from Abu Dhabi, an intercontinental matchup in the FIFA 2010 Club World Cup final.

If these aren’t to your liking, see the SoccerInsider’s listings for many more televised matches. As usual, all times ET:

SATURDAY, DEC 18

England, Sunderland-Bolton, 7:30am ESPN2 & ESPN3.com: It is the game on ESPN2, so there’s a matter of convenience–but it’s certainly not an uninteresting matchup. Bolton is 6th in the standings, Sunderland 7th. American Stu Holden has been playing well for Bolton (as has his mate in the midfield, Fabrice Muamba). For Sunderland there’s of course Bent and Welbeck and Gyan and maybe even Bolo Zenden..and hence the possibility of dancing.

Club World Cup final, Mazembe-Inter Milan, noon Fox Deportes (tape at 11pm on FSC): Can the Congolese club compete with the European champions? Read our lengthy reblog of a Guardian Football piece on Tout Puissant Mazembe.

England, Liverpool-Fulham, 12:30pm FSC: American Clint Demsey is playing with a lot of confidence, which is not going unnoticed. In fact, seems as if Liverpool is interesting in buying him–but Fulham maintains he’s not for sale. Fulham needs to start winning to avoid falling into the relegation zone.

Spain, Espanyol-Barcelona, 2pm GolTV: El derbi Barceloní! Espanyol have quietly climbed up to 4th in the table–but Barcelona have outscored their last 6 opponents 26-0.

Italy, AC Milan-Roma 2:30pm FSC, FoxSoccer.tv & ESPN3.com: A resurgent Roma is still down in 6th place in Serie A, dieci punti behind league-leaders Milan, who have decided their best XI doesn’t include Ronaldinho, but does include Kevin Prince Boateng (another Ghanaian we love to watch)–and may soon include troubled striker Antonio Cassano.

SUNDAY, DEC 19

Commentary

The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup

December 16, 2010 — by Suman — 2

Seven teams have been competing in Abu Dhabi over the past week in the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup: Inter Milan (Italy), Pachuca (Mexico), Internacionale (Brazil), TP Mazembe (Congo DR), Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (South Korea), Al-Wahda Sports Club (UAE), and Hekari United FC (Papua Ne Guinea). The final is set for Saturday: Inter Milan vs, surprisingly, TP Mazembe.

Hekkari are the first club outside of Australia or New Zealand to qualify; but they immediately fell to host side Al-Wahda in the qualifying round. Al-Wahda went down to Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the quarterfinals, and they in turn lost to Inter Milan in the semis.

The UEFA and CONMEBOL champions go straight into the semifinals–which no doubt has contributed to every previous final match being a UEFA vs CONMEBOL affair (see below). But this year TP Mazembe made it to the finals by beating Pachuca and then Internacional. See our lengthy post here on TP Mazembe and more on how they reached the final; see FIFA’s site for the full bracket of results leading up to the final.

Via Wikipedia, here are the details of how the seven clubs qualified–the six winners of the various Confederations’champions leagues plus Al-Wahda as winner of the host UAE’s league:

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