Military Men Setting the Pace

By: Brett | April 14th, 2009

If you follow the likes of Tottenham Hotspur or Real Madrid, then you’re no doubt used to seeing wholesale changes take place at your club between seasons. But spare a thought for the supporters of Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix, who see no fewer than 22 players come and go each and every off-season.

The team from Korea’s south-west is quite unique in world football. It was established to give young professional players in Korea a chance to continue their development while undergoing their mandatory 2 year army service. Essentially, all its players are on-loan from the K-League clubs who own them for this period. When their two years are up they return to their original club and are replaced by a new batch of youngsters.

Gwangju players celebrate the winning goal.

Not surprisingly, it’s difficult for a team with such regular, wholesale changes to build any sort of solid foundation for future success. Thus, not surprisingly, they have been consistently average and consistently whipped by the rest of the competition ever since they permanently re-entered the K-League in 2003. Last season they finished last, recording only 2 wins; 2007 – last (3 wins); 2006 – last (5 wins); 2005 – last (4 wins).

That’s all changed this season. Their 1-0 win over Incheon United, courtesy of a second half header from the in-form Kim Myeong-jung, saw them overtake Jeonbuk Hyundai at the top of the K-League standings.

Sounds like a feat to be celebrated, right? Wrong. Coach Lee Kang-jo had this to say to reporters after the match, “It’s a good start and nothing more. We are top because Jeonbuk have played a game less.”

Why he wasn’t singing his teams praises is beyond me. They’d just recorded their fourth win in five, twice as many as they managed last season and one away from equaling their record of the last two. If I was him, I’d have be running around like a lunatic, giving it the old airborne fist-pump. But that’s just me.

As for Incheon United’s coach, Ilja Petkovic, his comments were just plain pointless, “It was a game in which Gwangju did enough to win.” No sh*t, Ilja. The Serb then went on to say that his team would have won they game if they had scored more goals than Gwangju, Ricardo Quaresma is overrated, and that one plus one equaled two.

Lee Sang-ho scores for Suwon

An 8oth minute equalizer from Dejan Damjanovic cancelled out Brazilian striker Indio’s 4th goal of season to leave Gyeongnam still without a win or a loss this season. If Gyeongnam FC’s fifth consecutive 1-1 draw isn’t some sort of record, it must be pretty damn close.

Cho Dong-keon of Seongnam Ilhwa, Kwak Kwang-seon of Gangwon FC and Chunnam Dragons’ Adriano Chuva all got doubles for their teams in a round where 20 goals were scored across all seven games. Suwon finally got their first win of the season thanks to a terrible Busan I’Park outfit and goals from Lee Sang-ho and Eduardo. Busan replace Suwon at the bottom of the standings.

Results
Gangwon 3-3 Chunnam Dragons, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3-1 Pohang Steelers, Daegu 2-1 Jeju United FC, Suwon Samsung 2-0 Busan I’Park, Gwangju Sangmu 1-0 Incheon United, Ulsan Hyundai 1-1 Daejon Citizens (courtesy of a last minute equaliser), Gyeongnam FC 1-1 FC Seoul.

Top 5
1. Gwangju (12), 2. Jeonbuk Hyundai (10), 3. Gangwon F.C (8), 4. FC Seoul (7), 5. Incheon United (7).