Mexico vs Korea: Most Important Players For Both Sides of Olympic Matchup

Mexico is looking to make history in the next two weeks.

The country has never won an Olympic medal before and is fielding an under-23 team in London that has more than enough talent to change that.

But manager Luis Fernando Tena knows his squad is going to have its hands full in its Group  B opener.

The South Korean squad is coming off a 3-0 friendly win over Senegal in its seventh straight Olympic appearance. They have terrific depth and enough firepower to notch the win if the Mexico defense doesn’t play its best.

Here are three players from each side to keep an eye on for today's match. 

Javier Aquino—Mexico

This is the sharp-shooter of the team who can destroy the morale of an opponent with his long distances shots.

He appeared in every match of the Pan American Games and has more experience than the vast majority of the squad.

The speedy right-winger is going to be exciting to watch when he has the ball and will give the South Korean defense fits.

Kim Bo-Kyung—South Korea

The winger has played extraordinarily well in the pre-Olympic friendlies, notching two goals. He is playing with the sort of aggressiveness the team desperately needs.

The Bo-Kyung—Ja-Cheol duo is surely going to be responsible for the vast majority of the South Korean scoring opportunities today. 

Marco Fabian—Mexico

After dealing with conduct issues and a suspension, Fabian has cleaned up his act significantly and enters the Olympics as one of the biggest scoring threats for Mexico.

He is a terrific dribbler who can effectively control the ball with either aggressiveness or patience, and he has a very accurate leg as well.

Fabian is a player who can inflict some serious damage on a suspect South Korean back line. 

Koo Ja-Cheol—South Korea

The 23-year-old midfielder played a huge role for the German club Augsburg after coming over on loan from Wolfsburg. He was the top scorer in the 2011 Asian Cup and is an incredibly dangerous threat to score a goal on Thursday.

The captain needs to perform well to ensure South Korean notches a win. 

Giovani dos Santos—Mexico

He already has a World Cup under his belt and is one of the most experienced players in this entire tournament.

The only player based outside of Mexico (Tottenham), dos Santos will have to play from beyond the eight ball as it appears he’ll start the match on the bench (via Yahoo! Sports).

The pressure is on to overcome his sluggish play in the friendlies against Spain and Japan, and there is no doubt he has the talent to do it.

The play of dos Santos is the biggest question mark in this match.

Ki Sung-Yueng—South Korea

The 23-year-old may be on the radar of Liverpool, but right now his focus is on the Olympics.

He had an assist and goal against Senegal as he clearly was too fast for the defense. He’ll need his speed against a Mexico back line that will be incredibly difficult to sneak past.

His ability to beat defenders will set the tone for the South Korean offense. 

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