2009 Pan-Pacific Championship Key Player Profiles

This season's PPC tournament begins tonight in Los Angeles. Here is a quick profile of the key players on the Asian rosters for the tournament. (Thank you wikipedia!) Here is an MLS press release about the rosters from a couple of days ago.






Suwon Bluewings F.C.
수원 블루윙즈F.C.
South Korea

Lee Woon-Jae
The 35 year old goalkeeper has made over 100 appearances for South Korea and was the starting keeper in the 2006 world cup.

Song Chong-Gug
Song has been on two South Korean World Cup squads and played in the Dutch league with Feyenoord between 02-05. He has recently been linked with a move to Fulham in the Premiership.

Li Weifeng
Li has represented the Chinese national team over 100 times and had a very brief trail with Everton. He is known for rather poor sportsmanship and he was thrown off the Chinese national team for hitting a player.



Shandong Luneng Taishan
山东鲁能泰山
China

Li Jinyu
Li is considered one of the best strikers in China, although his goal scoring form has dropped off considerably in the last two seasons. He spent one season in France with AS Nancy and has been a regular starter for the Chinese National Team.

Aleksandar Živković
The 31 year old Serbian Midfielder previously played in the J-League with Jubilo Iwata before moving to China. He represented the Serbia and Montenegro national team 2 times in 2001.


Oita Trinita
大分トリニータ
Japan

Ueslei
The 36 year old Brazilian was J-League Top Scorer in 2003 with Nagoya Grampus Eight, where he scored 81 goals in 114 overall games. He has since bounced around clubs in Brazil and Japan, scoring 4 goals for Atlético Mineiro, 33 goals for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 06 and 07, and 7 goals last season for Oita.

Daiki Takamatsu
The 27 year old Japanese forward has made over 200 appearances for Oita Trinita scoring over 50 goals. He was the J-League Cup MVP last season and is one of he few Oita players with International experience.

Akihiro Ienaga
The 22 year old midfielder joined Plymouth Argyle in England on trial, but last month was denied a work permit so was forced to return to the J-League.

Mu Kanazaki
The 20 year old midfielder made his full international debut for Japan last month against Yemen. He was the J-League Cup New Hero award winner, the prize giving to the U23 player that made the biggest contribution to their team in the competition.

Pan Pacific Championship Top Players

These are some of the top players to watch on the non-MLS sides in the PPC. I can't wait for the games, I'm suffering from MLS withdrawal, and I follow the A and J-League pretty closely throughout the year.

Gamba Osaka

EDIT: I had included Endo and Kaji, however they weren't included in the squad due to the East Asian Cup.

Satoshi Yamaguchi - The captain and a solid defender who leads the back line for Osaka.

Baré - One of the many Brazilians currently playing in the J-League. He had a pretty impressive run last season, knocking in 20 goals in 31 games. In 2005, Bare scored 6 goals in Ventforet Kofu's playoff promotion game, to earn them a spot in J1.

Lucas - Another Brazilian who was recently acquired from FC Tokyo. He's knocked in 48 goals over the past 3 years in Tokyo.

Sydney FC

Juninho - The Brazilian international spent time playing in England, Scotland, and Spain, and is Sydney's marquee player. A fantastic player, he has unfortunately had a ton of minor injury problems and, like another marquee player in this tournament, has spent a lot of time on the bench. I'm sure the Galaxy will remember how brilliant he can be, after their friendly with Sydney a few months back.

Tony Popovic - The big Australian defender spent the bulk of his career playing in the J-League and with Crystal Palace in England. He's been capped by Australia 58 times and is the captain of Sydney FC.

Alex Brosque - His first season with Sydney didn't go very well, but the young FW/Winger made a fine comeback this past season, leading the team with 8 goals in the regular season. He has been included in Australia's squad for their upcoming WC qualifier. The Galaxy will remember him as well, he scored two goals in the recent friendly.