Been saying that Bae Jun-ho isn't a natural goalscoring LW & the Kuwait match showed why. Solid playmaking, but inconsistent finishing. Right now, he’s best as a half-space AM/CM: excellent at carrying the ball, making smart decisions, & linking play in the final third.

Solid showing, albeit against an outmatched Kuwaiti side. Kim Ju-sung & Lee Han-beom offered a glimpse of 🇰🇷's young CB depth: 146/149 passing (9/11 long balls) combined. Oh Hyeon-gyu, Lee Kang-in, Bae Jun-ho & Jeon Jin-woo: 3 goals and 2 assists as the starting front four. #KNT

🔎 One to Watch: Suwon Samsung's Ko Jong-hyun Scouting Profile ⬇️

Son Heung-min could be made available after Ange's sacking. A short-term Bundesliga return would be a full-circle moment, but unsure of his interest given his past comments on racism in 🇩🇪. He may be slowing down, but there’s still gas in the tank. One last dance in Europe?

World Cup bound for the 11th consecutive time! South Korea punches their ticket to North America next June! 🇰🇷✈️🌎 The last time South Korea didn’t qualify (1982): - The K-League didn’t exist - Son Heung-min wasn’t born - 🇰🇷 was under a dictatorship

Funny how both Park Ji-sung and Lee Kang-in won their first UCL without playing in the final. Crazy that the little guy from Shootdori would grow up to emulate Park & lift the trophy in similar circumstances. Hope we see him play and win one someday. Congrats to LKI & PSG! 🏆

Jeonbuk have been insane away from home this season. Defensive powerhouses so far 🧱 TWO goals conceded in eight matches. 19 points from a maximum of 24. Their only loss? A 1-0 defeat against Ulsan back on March 1st. The rematch is in Jeonju tomorrow.

Year after year, Belgian clubs find uncut gems from unusual places, often at undervalued prices, polish them up then sell them for significant profits. Their recruitment model is perhaps the most diverse in football, and certainly among the most successful. Llew Davies reveals how they do it.

I would post here more often if there was a decent audience for 🇰🇷⚽ Don't really see that unfortunately

Seol Young-woo's Crvena zvezda just suffered its first league loss (one assist for him), but PSG still has a shot at history with four matches left. No Ligue 1 side has ever gone an entire season undefeated. Lee Kang-in could be immortalized as part of the first 🇫🇷 Invincibles.

Seems like Hong Hyun-seok was brought in as a long-term Lee Jae-sung replacement. Limited minutes make sense with LJS in form. Both have similar defensive flaws, so starting them together doesn’t suit Mainz’s press. Still think Hong’s Bundesliga-level, just not the right fit.

Incheon's Kim Gun-hee and Gwangju's Byeon Jun-soo remind me of each other. Both strong U23 CBs with a solid blend of dueling and ability on the ball, plus the occasional mental lapse. Clean that up, and more concrete overseas interest could start to materialize.

Could be a wild K-League weekend coming up. • Ulsan vs Gangwon - last season's champions vs runners-up • Daejeon vs Gimcheon - current 1st vs 2nd • FC Anyang vs Suwon FC / Pohang vs Jeju - toss ups • Gwangju vs FC Seoul - 4th vs 5th • Jeonbuk vs Daegu - 🇰🇷 vs 🇧🇷

The South Korean U17s played arguably their best football of the tournament for 98 minutes vs. Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas & conceded the match tying penalty with one minute left. Football is ruthless, all it takes is one mistake. Onto the World Cup. #AFCU17

Physical upside is important for every player, but it's an X-factor for Korean players who want to make it to the top level. Kim Min-jae: physicality Son Heung-min: pace Park Ji-sung: stamina Cha Bum-kun: athleticism Unless you have Lee Kang-in level technique, it's tough.

Jesse Lingard has been a bit unlucky with assists. He's leading the K-League 1 in xA with 3.0, but has no assists this season. Other "unlucky" K1 players: Matheus Oliviera -1.7 (1.7 xA, 0 A) Kim Kang-guk -1.4 (1.4 xA, 0 A) Actual assist leaders: Lee Dong-gyeong, Anderson (3)

Some encouraging signs from the three South Koreans in the Championship. Yang Min-hyeok (0.57 G/A per 90) Bae Jun-ho (season high 8 G/A) Eom Ji-sung (1.54 successful dribbles per 90) End product (especially the latter two) still needs work, but they're improving in other areas.

Strikers who can create their own offense with 1 v 1 actions > strikers whose scoring largely depends on others' creativity. BUT the caveat is that elite finishing/movement trumps all. Personally I tend to look for movement strikers the most. Depends on team composition though.

Death, taxes, and... -Anderson leading K-League 1 in dribbles per 90 (2.7) -Cesinha in key passes per 90 (3.3) -Joo Min-kyu in goals per 90 (0.90) -Lee Dong-gyeong in assists per 90 (0.48) -Kim Dae-won in xA per 90 (0.60) The regular culprits.

Another year, another Lee Gi-hyuk data masterclass. 🏅100th percentile: Aerial duels won per 90 🏅100th percentile: Touches per 90 🏅100th percentile: Successful passes per 90 🥈94th percentile: Duels won per 90 🥈86th percentile: Accurate long balls per 90

Crvena zvezda's relationship with 🇰🇷 is still young, but has been fruitful. Hwang In-beom won the 23-24 Serbian Superliga Player of the Year en route to a domestic double, while the club is still undefeated this season with Seol Young-woo providing stability at both FB spots.

🔎🇰🇷 Five South Korean Players to Watch at the 2025 U17 Asian Cup Tottenham's Yang Min-hyeok & Yun Do-young of Brighton impressed at this tournament back in 2023. Starting April 3rd, a new crop of Korean prospects will enter the public eye. Who's next? [THREAD]

Some solid performances from 🇰🇷 footballers in Europe this past week, including: -Oh Hyeon-gyu with a brace off the bench (9 goals in only 432 minutes) -Seol Young-woo's 6th league goal of the season -Yang Min-hyeok & Bae Jun-ho both score in the same match -Jens Castrop assist

The Yoon Jong-hwan Effect. Love that he isn't afraid to play youth if he feels they're good enough. 3/4 of Incheon's starting backline this season are U22. CB Kim Gun-hee (22) CB Park Kyung-sub (20) RB Choi Seung-gu (19) Some growing pains now, but could reap benefits later.

Lee Han-beom is in danger of falling behind with a lot of up-and-coming young Korean CBs on the horizon. Kim Ji-soo also isn't getting enough minutes at Brentford either atm, but as long as he gets a loan move next season, I'm not too worried about him (yet).

Exhibit A: Why the stats/data from a single match can be misleading, and why the eye test is still king. Park Yong-woo was nowhere near being Man of the Match. Identifying a DM is a paramount issue. There are plenty of Korean 8s, but not enough 6s.

Germany × South Korea 🇩🇪 🤝 🇰🇷 Over the past 40+ years, Germany has steadily become one of South Korea's strongest pathways into Europe. Let's take a brief look at the footballing history between the two countries and what this relationship has built. [THREAD]

A Cinderella story developing in the Korea Cup. Sejong SA FC, a club that was founded two months ago in K4, have upset two consecutive clubs. They beat K3 club Ulsan Citizen 3-0 in the previous round and K2 club Jeonnam Dragons 3-1 today.

Even though Hwang Hee-chan scored vs Oman, yesterday's match was a perfect example of this. He looked lost at RW. While it isn't his fault that he was played there, he also could have done more. Great players show that they can adapt.

I hope he proves me wrong, but Hwang Hee-chan needs to adjust his game to continue playing in Europe past 30. He still relies a lot on his athleticism, so I'd like to see him make more adjustments as his pace starts to go. That's what separates the good players from the great.

Oh Hyeon-gyu's goals per 90 in league play since moving to Europe ☘️ Celtic FC 22/23: 1.08-6G in 500 min. 23/24: 0.74-5G in 611 min. 🔵 Genk 24/25: 1.53-7G in 412 min. 18G in 1523 minutes is a great return, especially since he only has EIGHT total league starts over that time.

Four CB Candidates to Cover for Kim Min-jae on the 🇰🇷 KNT Let's take a look at a few CBs who should be in serious contention for the national team if Kim Min-jae needs a rest (and he does, badly). [THREAD]

One year later and this old post still rings true. Landing Jens Castrop would be a coup for the KNT. His intensity and quickness would be a great long-term fit next to Hwang In-beom as the latter ages. And he also can play FB, simultaneously shoring up two positions of need.

Gwangju FC pulls off extraordinary comeback in Asian Champions League R of 16, down 0:2 agg for leg 2 vs Vissel Kobe, Asani’s penalty in 85’ took them to extra time! 116th min Choi Kyong-rok subbed in…118th min assist for Asani delivers knockout blow to the visitors! Gwangju in the quarterfinals!

Two 1-0 match winners from two U23 🇰🇷 attackers in Europe last night. An Eom Ji-sung curler from outside of the box marks his debut goal for Swansea, reminiscent of his goals for Gwangju. Oh Hyeon-gyu w/ a late composed penalty gives him nine for Genk in all competitions.

Another two assists for Lee Jae-sung in a win vs Gladbach. He's now up to 11 league G/A, which already matches his best statistical season for Mainz. Yang Hyun-jun, Seol Young-woo, and Lee Jae-sung may be the most in-form 🇰🇷 players in Europe atm.

A few things to monitor through the first three weeks of K-League 1 -Daegu FC playing possession football (55.4% in 2025 vs 44.8% in 2024) -Ulsan's defense has conceded only one goal through three matches -Gwangju & Daegu are the only two remaining undefeated clubs

K-League Round 3 Review -Jasir Asani's brace downs Anyang -Ulsan edges Jeonbuk 1-0 in an early test of historical K1 giants -THREE 0-0 draws & only FIVE total goals scored across six matches -More public criticism of pitch quality voiced throughout the league

🍀 Yang Hyun-jun is on fire. After his brace & assist vs St. Mirren, he now has three goals & two assists in his last three Premiership appearances (only 127 minutes). In his last six appearances in all competitions (226 minutes), he has four goals & five assists.

I’m trying to watch the Ulsan-Jeonbuk match, but my phone keeps blowing up with these red card notifications from Incheon-Suwon Samsung. Three reds at the half is insane work.

✍️💭 SCOUTING THREAD Here are some of my takeaways & observations of the South Korean national team from the 2025 U20 Asian Cup. 📷: KFA Start with #1 below ⬇️

ICYMI U20 wrap up: Good: Shin Min-ha, wingers, Kim Tae-won's finishing, Seong Shin/Son Seung-min in midfield, the 9s' physicality, Hong Sung-min's shot-stopping Areas of improvement: Kang Ju-hyeok's over-reliance on pace, the CAM's lack of presence, GK decision making, FB play

Saudi Arabia was well drilled defensively & South Korea seemed too predictable in attack. Not enough central movement or presence to draw out the CBs. One bright spot was Shin Min-ha who was immense today & was arguably the most consistent 🇰🇷 player this tournament.

Player Profile #3: '07 Zaïd Bafdili, disruptive playmaker of Jong Genk ⚡ A versatile Belgian-Moroccan 🇧🇪🇲🇦 midfielder from the highly regarded Genk youth academy. One to watch alongside Konstantinos Karetsas, who is already turning heads in Europe.

Just rewatched FC Bayern-Frankfurt. Kim Min-jae playing through pain on a damaged Achilles should not be understated. He's a warrior. Not sure if he should be called up for World Cup qualifying in March in all honesty, but I doubt Hong Myung-bo passes on him.

It would be easy to be critical after a poor finish in regulation, but the kids showed resilience against a tough opponent. Hong Sung-min looked nervy early, but made some big saves. After going down 1-0, Shin Min-ha responded with a brace. 🇰🇷 is headed to the U20 World Cup

South Korea-Uzbekistan has been wild. -Missed handball in the box -Penalty conceded and saved by Hong Sung-min -Brace by a CB in Shin Min-ha -Two goals after 90' by a great Uzbek comeback -Now heading into penalties #AFCU20

Lee Jae-sung went to Europe just before he turned 26. He's a testament to the fact that Asian players can have successful careers in Europe after 25. After his goal & assist yesterday, he now has seven straight seasons of at least 7 G/A. Underrated level of production.

Bruno Lamas & Cesinha are a combined 65 years old. They also have combined for five goal contributions through the first two weeks of K-League play. Don't mean to be cliché, but they really are aging like fine wine.

K League 1 is finally added to my match report app! Games will be a little delayed, so instead of being added within a day of them ending, it'll be a few days upwards to a week 👉 football-match-reports.streamlit.app #KLeague