Korea isn’t known as a likely destination for Spanish footballers, with many of the K-League’s foreign signings being from Brazil or The Balkans instead. The main exception to that has been former Racing Santander defender Osmar Barba who joined FC Seoul in 2014 after a spell in Thailand with Buriram United. However, ‘Osmar’, as he
North Korean striker Jong Tae-Se has returned to Japan, transferring from Suwon Bluewings to J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse. Jong Tae-Se is well known around the world due to his performances in the 2010 World Cup where he was dubbed ‘The People’s Rooney”. He personally likens his style of play to ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and,
South Korea’s answer to Peter Crouch, the 1.96m tall Ulsan forward is likely to be heading to Europe sooner rather than later. Apparently he turned down a chance to move to Spartak Moscow in the winter, and he is on the radar of several English clubs including Leicester City. The national team forward has hit
Seongnam FC’s twenty-two year old striker Hwang Ui-Jo is having an impressive start to the season. His midweek goal to win the match against Yeongnam University in the FA Cup was his eleventh goal this season in all competitions (he also scored the only goal of Seongnam’s victory in the previous round over Busan Transportation).
In the 2014 World Cup, goalkeeping was one of the Korean National Team’s weakest spots, with Suwon Bluewings’ ‘keeper Jung Sung-Ryong being criticised by many fans of Korean football for his frequent errors. Jung managed to maintain his first team spot despite a poor season in the K-League, but his performance against Algeria, where he
One of the most exciting foreign players in the K-League this season is the Croatian attacking midfielder Mislav Oršić. The twenty-two year-old is currently playing for Jeonnam Dragons, having been loaned to them from Croatian side HNK Rijeka. He has impressed in his twelve games for Jeonnam, and has scored twice so far this season.
Jeonbuk Motors’ exciting winger Han Kyo-Won is currently midway through an eight match suspension. On May 23rd, just five minutes into Jeonbuk’s K-League match against Incheon United, Han Kyo-Won punched Incheon’s Park Dae-Han twice, his second punch connecting with the Incheon Player’s head in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack. Han has since apologized
Like his midfield counterpart Son Joon-Ho, Kim Seung-Dae is another Youngnam University alumni who was picked up by local club Pohang Steelers. The right winger, who also can play as a second striker, burst onto the scene in 2013 when he played twenty-one games, scoring three goals, as Pohang went on to have one of
Every now-and-then a manager or scout spots something in a player that nobody else notices. South Korean National Team manager Uli Stielike surprised everybody with his inclusion of Lee Jung-Hyub in his squad for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. Prior to that tournament, Lee had only scored seven times in his senior career, but
FC Seoul’s 23 year-old winger seems like he has been around for ages, having broken into the Gyeongnam FC team back in 2011. He made twenty-one appearances in that first season and impressed enough that after his second season at Gyeongnam he moved to FC Seoul in 2013. In that year he made his international
A 25 year old striker by the name of Joo Min-Kyu scored a wonder goal in Seoul E-Land’s 3-2 victory against Gyeongnam FC on May 10th, the goal impressed his manager, Martin Rennie, so much that he posted it on his personal blog, likening it to Real Madrid star James Rodriguez’s goal for Colombia against
The 23 year-old is in his second season at Pohang Steelers, having made his debut in 2014. He plays in central midfield and wears the number 28 shirt. He notched up twenty-five appearances in the 2014 season scoring one goal. The midfielder has made a bright start to his second season at the club, scoring