On the 27th, U-20 national team head coach Lee Kwang-jong announced his 23-man squad for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship which will take place in Zibo, China in October.
There was heavy interest in whether the foreign-based stars would be involved in the upcoming tournament but it was revealed that Seok Hyun-joon (Ajax/NED), Nam Tae-hee (Valenciennes/FRA) and Lee Yong-jae (Nantes/FRA) were blocked by their respective club teams from participating in the youth tournament. As for sensational Hamburg forward Son Heung-min, his foot injury ruled him out of a place in the squad.
The most eye-catching name in the squad list is 2010 K-League Rookie of the Year favorite Ji Dong-won, who has scored 8 goals and 4 assists this season. It was revealed that the Chunnam forward has been training with the squad in Paju National Football Center since last week. Aside from Ji Dong-won, there are five other professional footballers in the squad.
The U-19 team is in a tough group that includes Australia, Yemen and Iran and will have a tougher time in the knock-out stages where only the top four teams will participate in next year’s 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. The team will leave for China on the 28th and will have its first match against Iran on October 4th.
AFC U-19 Championship Squad
GK: NO Dong-geon (Korea Univ), CHO Hyun-woo (Sunmoon Univ), Kim Jin-young (Iri High School)
DF: LEE Kwang-jin (Seoul), JANG Hyun-soo (Yonsei Univ), LEE Joo-young (SungKyunKwan Univ), LEE Ki-je (Dongguk Univ), LEE Jae-moung (Gyeongnam), HWANG Do-yeon (Chunnam), KIM Jin-su (Shingal High School), KWON Jin-young (Soongsil Univ)
MF: KIM Kyung-jung (Korea Univ), KIM Young-wook (Chunnam), YUN Il-lok (Gyeongnam Youth), BAEK Sung-dong (Yonsei Univ), NAM Seung-woo (Bukyeong High School), CHOI Bong-gyun (Hanyang Univ)
FW: CHOI Sung-guen (Korea Univ), LEE Jong-ho (Chunnam Youth), JI Dong-won (Chunnam), LEE Min-soo (Hannam Univ), YOO Je-ho (Pohang Youth), JUNG Seung-yong (Seoul Youth)
With exclusions of players in Europe and injuries to some key domestic players, the squad has certainly dropped down a notch or two in quality since the U-17 World Cup last year.
It’s still a balanced squad nonetheless and I’m excited to see how Kim Jin-Soo, the left-footed playmaking CB, will lead the line at the back. Pairing of Lee Jong-Ho and Ji Dong-Won up front is also an intriguing one.
I think only 5 players from the 2009 U-17 team that reached the quarter finals at the Fifa World Cup have made it to the U-19 cut :
Kim Jin Su, Yoon Il Rok, Lee Jong Ho, Kim in Young and Nam Seung Woo. Hope these 5 will bring maturity and technique to this young team and obtain qualification for the Colombia 2011 U-20 world Cup.
Let us not forget that North Korea will be there too !