South Korea vs Bahrain
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Today’s second featured game is the Asian Cup encounter between South Korea and Bahrain. On paper, I think it’s fair to say that we’d all expect South Korea to walk this one but I just don’t think it’ll be that simple for them.
Nonetheless, you do have to fancy South Korea to win this one today. It harmed their preparations quite heavily to have striker Park Chu-Young miss the tournament through injury as he’s arguably their best striker. As a result, South Korea have called up three strikers for this tournament and all three of them are very young with no more than six caps between them. As a result, Cho Kwang-Rae will have to rely on South Korea’s excellent midfield to carry the team and it should have enough to see them do well in the tournament, although I have my reservations about them winning it.
With experienced captain Park Ji-Sung playing in his last international tournament, you have to fancy a very resolute South Korea to turn up to each game, such is the immense respect that all of the South Korean players have for one of their best ever players. He’s very much an integral part of a technically gifted South Korean midfield with arising talents Lee Chung-Yong from Bolton Wanderers and Ki Sung-Yueng from Celtic and experienced Yeom Ki-Hun all keen to demonstrate their ability in the Asian Cup.
I also like the experience that South Korea have brought to the Asian Cup in defence with Lee Yong-Pyo, Cho Yong-Hyung, Lee Jung-Soo, and Cha Du-Ri being amongst the most capped defenders in the competition. They’re going to need this experience too as this tournament marks the start of a new era for South Korea with some of the older players leaving the squad to make way for the youngsters. For example, consider that South Korea have no Lee Dong-Gook, Kim Nam-Il, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Lee Woon-Jae, and Kim Dong-Jin for this tournament and you’ll see just how much experience is absent from this team. Instead, South Korea are opting to put their future in the hands of emerging talent like Son Heung-Min of Hamburger SV, who is really South Korea’s “secret weapon” at this tournament.
With the above in mind, I certainly wouldn’t approach this game with the mindset that South Korea are the same side now as they were at the 2010 World Cup, for example. I can’t accept them being 4/7 to win this game with the information listed above in mind. This South Korean side is very short in attack and although they have some very talented players, the majority of this squad is comprised of emerging talent and I’d advise betting on South Korea with caution as a result
You also have to bear in mind that Bahrain aren’t the pushovers that you may think they are. Indeed, this Bahrain side generally doesn’t concede many goals due to a solid backline and although their attacking leaves a lot to be desired, I wouldn’t simply write them off here, especially after a few “shocks” in the Asian Cup already!
Bahrain’s problem here is going to be their midfield as massively important midfielder Salmeen is absent for this game. He’s one of their most capped players and they will naturally struggle without him. Indeed, to make matters worse, captain Isa is a serious doubt for this game and if Bahrain surrender the midfield to South Korea’s excellent midfield then they’re going to find life very tough indeed today. They’ve faced a couple of tough opponents in friendlies in preparation for games like this and struggled in both games, losing 1-0 against North Korea and Saudi Arabia respectively. They also fended off a potent Uzbekistan side and claimed a 1-1 draw in a friendly so it’s reasonable to observe that Bahrain do have some defensive ability.
Bahrain do bring some experience into this game too, incidentally. Okwunwanne and Abdullatif in attack have a lot of caps between them, the former of which you may know from Eskisehirspor in the Turkish Super Lig. Abdullah Omar of Neuchatel Xamax in the Swiss Super League is another prominent figure in this Bahrain side, not to mention Al-Marzooqi at the back. Isa and Salmeen are the core of the team, however, and if they’re missing then Bahrain are going to struggle here as a whole.
So yeah – I’d be a little cautious about backing South Korea here. Their attack is very inexperienced and they’ll have to rely heavily on their midfield. Bahrain are good enough defensively to cause South Korea some real problems in breaking through today. For me, 4/7 on a South Korea win isn’t worth it – they’ve not got enough firepower to merit it. I think Bahrain will run South Korea close today but South Korea’s quality should show through by the final whistle. South Korea winning to nil and HT/FT Draw/South Korea both intrigue me for this game but my main call is under 2.5 goals at 3/4 as I just can’t see where a lot of goals will come from in this game.
Team news – Bahrain miss Salmeen and Salman whilst having doubts over Isa.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 3/4.
Monday’s Picks
Nothing else interests me today, guys, although you can see my thoughts on the remainder of today’s games listed below!
Asian Cup:
India vs Australia (9) -1.5 handicap
South Korea vs Bahrain (6) under 2.5 goals
Cypriot Division 1:
Omonia Nicosia vs Alki (8) 2-0
English FA Cup:
Crawley Town vs Derby County (5) both sides to score
Italian Serie B:
Atalanta Bergamo vs Grosseto (8) over 2.5 goals
Spanish Primera Liga:
Hercules Alicante vs Atletico Madrid (5) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!