Random Post #4: Messi, the greatest player?

Lionel Messi, also known as the god of soccer, is now trying to reach "the most goal scored in a year" record of Gerd Muller. Muller's record is 85 and Messi's record is 84. He has three games remaining. He was injured in the last Champions League game aginst Benfica, but it was a slight injury. 

His strength is his short height. Because his center of weight is low, the defenders are hard to catch him when he is dribbling. When he is dribbling, casters say that "the ball is stuck to his shoes." He is left-footed. He is at the top in the passing game of FC Barcelona. The greatest passers, Xavi and Iniesta, is supporting him so that Messi can score easily. He was not good at his national team, but nowadays he is ace in the Argentina national football team. 

He is the owner of marvelous records. He was called genius since in the youth squad and broke almost every records of the youth team. He recieved the FIFA Ballond'or, which is a prize for the best player in the world, three consecutive times. This is also a record. He scored 68 goals in 57 games in the 11-12 season. The previous record was 67 of Muller in 72-73 season. 

Senior team records

Season	Club	Division	League		Cup		Champions League		Supercup		UEFA Super Cup		Club World Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2004–05	Barcelona	La Liga	7	1	1	0	1	0	—		—		—		9	1
2005–06			17	6	2	1	6	1	—		—		—		25	8
2006–07			26	14	2	2	5	1	2	0	1	0	—		36	17
2007–08			28	10	3	0	9	6	—		—		—		40	16
2008–09			31	23	8	6	12	9	—		—		—		51	38
2009–10			35	34	3	1	11	8	1	2	1	0	2	2	53	47
2010–11			33	31	7	7	13	12	2	3	—		—		55	53
2011–12			37	50	7	3	11	14	2	3	1	1	2	2	60	73
2012–13			14	21	0	0	6	5	2	2	—		—		22	28
Total			228	190	33	20	74	56	9	10	3	1	4	4	351	281

Honours

Barcelona

• La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11; Runner-up 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12
• Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12; Runner-up 2010–11
• Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011; Runner-up 2012
• UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011; Runner-up 2006
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011

Argentina

• Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005

Runner Up:

• Copa America: 2007

Third Place:

• U20 South American Youth Championship: 2005

Individual

FIFA Ballon d'Or (2): 2010, 2011. Created in 2010. Ballon d'Or (1): 2009. Ceased to exist in 2009. FIFA World Player of the Year (1): 2009. Ceased to exist in 2009. World Soccer Player of the Year (2): 2009, 2011. World Soccer Young Player of the Year (3): 2006, 2007, 2008. ESM Team of the Year (6): 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011-12. European Golden Shoe (2): 2010, 2012. Pichichi Trophy (2): 2010, 2012. La Liga Player of the Year (3): 2009, 2010, 2011. LFP Best Player (4): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. LFP Best Forward (4): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. La Liga Foreign Player of the Year (3): 2007, 2009, 2010. Ceased to exist in 2010. La Liga Ibero-American Player of the Year (5): 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. UEFA Champions League Top Goalscorer (4): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. UEFA Best Player in Europe Award (1): 2011. Created in 2011. UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 2009. Ceased to exist in 2010. UEFA Champions League Forward of the Year (1): 2009. Ceased to exist in 2010. UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match (1): 2011. UEFA Team of the Year (4): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Onze d'Or (3): 2009, 2011, 2012. No winner in 2010. Bravo Award (1): 2007. European Golden Boy (1): 2005. FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball (2): 2009, 2011. FIFA U-20 World Cup Player of the Tournament (1): 2005. FIFA U-20 World Cup top goalscorer (1): 2005. Copa América Young Player of the Tournament (1): 2007. FIFPro World Young Player of the Year (3): 2006, 2007, 2008. FIFA/FIFPro World XI (5): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Sportsperson of the Year of Argentina (1): 2011. Footballer of the Year of Argentina (6): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Male Best Athlete in Latin America (1): 2011. Marca Leyenda (1): 2009. L'Équipe Champion of Champions (1): 2011 IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer (1): 2011.[255] Best International Athlete ESPY Award (1): 2012.

Records

World

• Most goals scored in a season (club and national team): 82 goals
• Most goals scored in a season (only club): 73 goals
• Most goals scored in a calendar year (only club): 72 goals (shared with Gerd Müller)
• Most goals scored in FIFA Club World Cup: 4 goals (held jointly with Denilson)

Europe

• Most goals scored in a European Cup season: 14 goals (held jointly with José Altafini)
• Most European Cup top scorer awards: 4 awards (shared with Gerd Müller)
• Highest scorer in a European Cup game: 5 goals (held jointly with ten other players)

Argentina

• Most goals scored in a year in the national team: 12 goals (shared with Batistuta)

Spain

• Most goals scored in La Liga in a season: 50 goals
• Most La Liga hat-tricks in a season: 8 hat-tricks
• Most goals scored in the Supercopa de España: 10 goals
• Most consecutive La Liga matches scored in: 10 matches (shared with Ronaldo and Mariano Martín)

Barcelona

• Top goalscorer in official competitions: 281 goals
• Record Goalscorer in UEFA Champions League: 56 goals
• Record Goalscorer in European Competitions: 57 goals
• Record Goalscorer in international Competitions: 61 goals
• Most La Liga hat-tricks overall: 15
• Most all competitions hat-tricks overall: 21

(Source: Wikipedia)

Personally, I like his rival Cristiano Ronaldo more than him, but as statistics show, Messi is becoming one of the greatest. The world soccer is divided to two great players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, or two great teams, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. But the current tendency shows that Messi is little bit above Ronaldo. They are both world class players who can score in any game at any position. Their ability is not able to compare. Messi can break great records because there is a rival like Ronaldo who gives Messi motivation for competition. The existence of rival can lead to a better result as Messi shows his great performances. 
It is certain that Messi became one of the greatest players. Maybe my son will ask who is better, Ronaldo or Messi, just like my friends discuss who is better, Maradona or Pele. Can Messi break Muller's record and really be the best player in the history?

Random Post #3: Introducing Linkin Park

Linkin Park: Mike Shinoda(Rap, Guitar, Keyboard,Sub-Vocal), Brad Delson(Guitar), Joe Hahn(Sampling, Turntables), Chester Bennington(Vocal), Rob Bourdon(Drum), Phoenix(Bass) (From left to right)

Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands. I first started to listen their music when I was second grade in middle school. The first song I heard was "In the End", which is popular for OSTs and so on. I soon knew that their first album "Hybrid Theory" is considered as one of the greatest rock album in the 00's. 

Linkin Park is called as LP by fans. One of the most significant feature of LP's music is the fusion of rap and rock. Mike is a rapper in LP, which is a not-existing position of a rock band. But as his rap technique is not good compared to professional hip-hop musicians, some Korean fans call his rap "English textbook rap." However, his existence brings LP a unique specialty. He is also capable of guitar and keyboards. 

LP's popular songs are In the End, Papercut, Faint, Numb, What I've done, New divide.

Linkin Park's songs were put into the Transformer series. What I've done, the title of third album <Minutes to Midnight>, and New Divide, which is made only for Transformers OST, were used. 

LP attracts fans with Chester's voice. His voice is so called "Growling sound". Thousands of people, I guess, would have a hoarse throat because they tried to sing like him. 

Their best album is their first album, <Hybrid Theory>. But as time pass by, they tried softer music, which disappoints their fans who were waiting for HARD ROCKKK!!! But personally I think the artistic value of the album increased. Their fourth album <A thousand suns> has no impressive single song, but hearing it as a full album makes me think this as a masterpiece with continuing song. It feels like I am hearing one song. It also contains certain messages to the society. As the lyrics of first albums of Linkin Park was focused on individual, the latter ones focused on sending messages to the people. 

Their live performances are not good as the digital soundtrack. I think this is because their songs were produced by experts of electronic music such as Joe Hahn. Joe Hahn is Korean-American, while Shinoda is Japanese-American. Joe Hahn is directing videos of the band. He mixes music in performances and refines every music of the band. 

Recently they released their fifth album <Living Things>. This is a fusion of the hard rock in the first period and soft rock in the latter period. My favorite track in this album is Burn It Down and Victimized.

Linkin Park came to Korea when I was third grade in middle school, but I was preparing for KMLA that time. If they come again, I won't lose the chance to see them!!

The concept of "Minjok"

    For most Koreans, the term "minjok" is a familiar term and they do not doubt that minjok is a existing community. In nation-wide events such as World Cup or Japanese claiming Dokdo is theirs, Koreans gather and make a great synergy effect under the awareness that every Korean is one minjok.

The 2002 World Cup

But...is "minjok" a real concept?

   
     However, it is certain that defining minjok is a hard task. It is difficult to decide the exact people who should be the part of minjok. To translate minjok in English, nation could be the most similar term. However, the term minjok is not limited to people who are living in a nation. The concept of race and ethnicity is deeply in the minjok. But nowadays there are many people with other ethnicity living in Korea, or become Koreans, and if the concept of minjok is limited to the race the term is not opened enough. 

     This process makes us think "Is minjok a existing community?" To analyze minjok with an assertion made by a scholar named Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities, minjok is not a old term that existed from long time ago. According to him, minjok is a made-up term in the process of modernization for political purpose. Minjok played the role of divine right, which is a collapsed concept by the procedure of enlightenment. It was a system to control as a familiar existence that prolonged for a long time. To analyze the Korean minjok, "Han minjok" in other words, with this logic, Han minjok would be a concept based on blood relations. By the inflow of western knowledge in the late of Chosun dynasty, the power of king collapsed and people started to think the community as a community based on horizontal relations by modernized newspapers and literature works. The print culture started to advance by enlightenment and "Hangul" appeared as a nation-wide print type. 

     The concept of minjok, which is a 'imaginary community thought to be existed for more than 5,000 years', rose by this process and as a sum with Japanese colonization insular attitude was spread. With the support of intelligents of Chosun, who used the concept of minjok as a key tool of independence movement, the concept of minjok was accepted by people without criticism.
     In the Japanes colonial period, Japan tried to unite Asians with the term "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere". August 1st, 1940, Japan's Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke proclaimed about it. The core of it is to get rid of the Western imperialists, Asia should gather around Japan. To put this concept in their colonies, they emphasized the Asian ethnicity.

The advertisement poster of
大東亞共營權, "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere"

     What Korean intellectuals thought was using the similar concept for the independence movement. To make people cooperate, there should be a pivotal figure. The concept of minjok played that role by signalizing myths about "Dangun" to arouse romantic nationalism. One of the intellectuals, Shin Chae-Ho researched about Korean history emphasizing the national and minjok independence. What he did was emphasizing the role of minjok in history and populating the Dangun story, which replaced the story of Giza that is part of Chinese myth. This still affects Korean people to get into romantic nationalism. 

The story of Dangun, which replaced Giza story from China

Dangun
Known as the
common ancestor
of Koreans

     Under Park Jung-hee's dictatorship, the concept of minjok was used as a tool of gathering people in the country to use as a workforce and a tool of anti-communism. The minjok was re-defined in his period. Communists were excluded in the minjok that time. 
     The concept of minjok was used for such political purposes in the history and we knew that it is a "imaginary community". Then how does this term affects Korean nowadays?
     Minjok is a crucial point of forming national identity. Koreans pledge allegiance to the nation and promise their devotion to the minjok and nation. From young age, Koreans learn about the myths and history of minjok which makes them familiar and feel natural with the term. When defining words such as traditions, minjok always appears in the definition. What makes Koreans to join in one group is the bond of sympathy that makes them feel one minjok. What we should look at is a imaginary community is the mobility of national unity, which is very dangerous.
     Moreover, Minjok has a potential to affect the society in a negative way. It has the ability to make people into one group that is somewhat insular and isolated. With the pride of Han minjok, Koreans have tendency to disparage Chinese or Japanese. More than this, as minjok is a by-product of romantic nationalism, it has the danger of being extreme nationalism like the Nazis. Looking at the results, the concept of minjok was not a impetus of killing by exclusivism like the Nazis or the fascists, but the fundamental concept that were used is almost similar. Even though people think minjok is a academic concept and is irrelevant with fascism, minjok is potentially a dangerous term. In the trend of globalization, exclusionism does not help for the natural relationship between other countries. 

     As mentioned before, minjok is a byproduct of romantic nationalism. This means people become emotional rather than being rational in the case of events related to minjok. The term minjok has the potential to paralyze people's reason and become totalitarian. 
     The twenty-first century is the age of globalization. What should be done to the term minjok is it should expand its range to a cosmopolitan level. By altering the concept to a global level, minjok can be a concept that encourages to have open mind to other person even in other countries. 

Random Post #2: Swansea City: Team of Ki Sung-Yueng

Since I was an elementary school student, I used to watch world football. At 2005, Park Ji-Sung became the first English Premier Leaguer when he moved to Manchester United, one of the best football clubs in the world. I acknowledged that United was a fascinating club by playing FIFA 06, a soccer game.

Park Ji-Sung in 2005

Now, Park has moved to Queens Park Rangers but his team is at the very last position of the League. My love for Manchester United has cooled down since a Japanese player, Kagawa Shinji, transferred to the United. At the same time, the "Korean Gerrard" Ki transferred to Swansea City. Swansea City is called as "Swancelona" because the team color is similar to FC Barcelona, a team which conquered the football world by basic passes with Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and so on.

Emblem of Swansea City

 Swansea impressed people by its fast pass plays using fast wing forwards, Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer, in the last season. However, the pass master Joe Allen and Fast Wing Sinclair each moved to another team.

This is the best formation of this season. However, Neil Taylor and Michel Vorm, the left back and the keeper, is out due to injury. Also, the key striker, Danny Graham is out for injury too. Veteran Goalkeeper Tremmel is replacing Vorm and 19 years old Ben Davies is replacing Taylor. 

The key player of Swansea City is Michu. 

#9 Michu: 191cm, 76kg 

This Spanish Giant moved to Swansea this Season from Rayo Vallecano, a team in Spanish Primera Liga. He is scoring 8 goals with 1 assist in 14 games in the League. He is at the third top scorer in the League and is the top scorer in the team. His strong point is his height and his running distance. With the help by fast players such as Pablo and Routledge, he can receive crosses by the wings or drop second balls to the players running from the back. He is scoring 4 goals with his header, which made him the leading scorer with header. He can be both playmaker and striker. 

#11 Pablo Hernandez: 173cm, 64kg 

He was a ace at Valencia, one of the leading teams in the Spanish League. He has acrobatic dribbling skills and good kick accuracy. He is sometimes a member of the Spanish national soccer team. He is the new ace of the team. 

Manager: Michael Laudrup

He was a star player playing at Barcelona and Real Madrid. He is a legendary player of Denmark who is the progenitor of phantom dribble. He was playing at Spain and was a manager of a Spanish team. Due to this fact, he adopted Spanish style to the team. He bought many players from Spain League including Michu, Pablo, Chico, and De Guzman. 

The Spanish players, Angel Rangel, Pablo, Michu, and Chico are the key connection of the team. 

#24 Ki Sung-Yeung: 187cm 79kg

He is the reason why I like Swansea City. He is a defensive midfielder, but he also possesses a great attacking ability. He has a great kick accuracy and kick power. His long distance shoot is fantastic. His pass accuracy is 92.1%, which is the sixth accurate passer in the Premier League. He is a player with good physical, which increases his ball possessing ability. He is at the role of rear player with another great passer Leon Britton. 

The next match of the team is against Arsenal. Will Swansea take three points from them?