Jeonbuk Hyundai 3-1 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma

The draw for the 2010 Asian Champions League was made today, throwing up some interesting match-ups, indeed. Defending champions Pohang Steelers and Suwon Samsung Bluewings were dealt relatively easy groups, with a Adelaide United and Gamba Osaka seemingly their biggest respective threats.

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma were placed in a fairly even group consisting of Australian champions Melbourne Victory and Chinese champions Beijing Guoan, along with the never easy Kawasaki Frontale. However, it is surely Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors who will feel they have the toughest draw.

A day after securing their first K-League title with a 3-1 aggregate victory over Seongnam, the 2006 Champions League winners find themselves in a group containing Changchun Yatai of China and recently crowned three-peat (to borrow an NBA term) J-League champions, Kashima Antlers.

But thoughts of how to overcome the Japanese outfit can surely wait for Choi Kang-Hee and his men. They have, afterall, just made league, and club, history.

The first leg of the championship playoff on Wednesday night may have ended in an entertaining goalless stalemate, but it took just twenty-two minutes of the second leg in Jeonju for Jeonbuk to break Seongnam’s resistence, courtesy of a sublime free-kick from Brazilian midfielder, Edinho. His second, a vicious, bullet of a strike eighteen minutes later, put them two up at the half.

Both teams grabbed one after the restart, but it hardly mattered such was Jeonbuk’s dominant first half display which had the Seongnam players largely chasing shadows. Kim Sang-Sik was rock a in midfield, working tirelessly to break up Seongnam’s offensive play. Eninho may have got the goals, but his attacking partners Choi Tae-Uk and fellow Brazilian Luis were no less impressive, bewildering the visitors defense with their mesmerising forward runs. It really was a joy to watch. Except if you are a Seongnam fan, of course.

At 4pm local time the final whistle blew and ‘The Greens’ could finally claimed their first K-League title, at their fifteenth attempt.

Runners-up Seongnam Ilhwa surely won’t feel too aggrieved at their loss. They do have seven championships of their own and the fact is, on this occasion they were simply beaten by a better team. Shin Tae-Young’s side huffed and puffed in both legs, but Jeonbuk’s house stood firm throughout.

As it has for much of the season. Without a doubt, K-League 2009, or the Sonata Championship as it became known once the finals series kicked off, was won by the best team. Or at the very least, the most consistent team.

Every time they was a challenge, it was answered. The lads from Jeonju won more games and scored more goals than anyone else. They were never outside the top three from week 2 onwards, and finished minor season champions. Their last loss was almost three months ago.

Whilst the victory was largely a team effort, special praise should be reserved for rejuvenated former Middlesborough and Seongnam Ilhwa striker, Lee Dong-Gook. The ‘Lion King’ enjoyed a quite remarkable season, finishing as the leagues top scorer with 20 goals, six more than second placed Dejan Damjanovic of FC Seoul.

And so, there is nothing left to say but – Congratulations Jeobuk Hyundai Motors. You are indeed worthy K-League champions.

I’ve just taken in the one-legged, sudden death semi-final playoff between the treble winning Pohang Steelers and the suprise packets of the second half of the season, Seongnam Ilhwa, and unsurprisingly, it was a bit of a cracker. If the players hadn’t been competing in driving rain which persisted for almost the entire ninety minutes, what was a 1-0 scoreline could easily have been 4-3 or 5-4. It was a truly tremendous display of bold, attacking football from both teams.

In the end it took a stunning free kick from in form import Mauricio Molina to give his side the victory and propel them into round one of the two-legged championship playoff against minor season champs Jeonbuk Hyundai, on Wednesday.

For Pohang, the loss brought to an end what has been a season of incredible achievement. Sergio Farias’ men fell just short of competing for what would have been a remarkable treble, already having taken home the domestic Peace Cup and the Asian Champions League. His post match comments summed up his teams match perfectly, “It is frustrating because we had a number of chances to score,” said the Brazilian. “We didn’t play badly but were we just unable to put the ball in the net.”

Like I said, on another day, with better weather, the result may have been quite different. Pohang’s season isn’t over just yet, though – they are off to Abu Dhabi on next week for the FIFA Club World Cup and a possible date with Barcelona. Now that would be some match.

Jeonbuk Hyundai must be champing at the bit to get back into action after their almost five week break. It’s going to be very interesting to see how they handle the pressure of Wednesday’s match in Seongnam. The results were split one win apiece during regular season, Jeonbuk thumping Seongnam 4-1 in round three and Seongnam returning the favour in round sixteen, winning 3-1.

It’s going to be a great tussle between the best team of the first half of the season and the best of the second. It’s tough to call, but I’m going with Seongnam Ilhwa. They have the momentum and I’m worried the extended lay-off is going to hinder Jeonbuk rather than help them.

Still, I’ve been wrong before.

In other news, as expected, Senol Gunes has left FC Seoul after three years to take the reigns at Trabzonspor in his native Turkey. Yes, he did help Seoul to runners up last season, and yes, in doing so led them into their first Asian Champions League campaign this season, but his time in the capital is still considered something of a failure in many eyes due to his failure to deliver any trophies. With perhaps the best squad in the league at his disposal, this year was meant to be the year, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. It will be interesting to see who Seoul turn to as his replacement. They could go for another foreign coach, perhaps a Philip Troussier or Leo Beenhaker type. But we’ll see. They have plenty of time to find the right man.

The battle for third place in K-League, or as it’s now known, the Sonata Championship, for 2009, is over. It was a good’un, too. One of those old school heavyweight boxing battle royals where the protagonists go punch for punch for fifteen rounds, neither giving an inch. The last team standing, face bloodied and struggling to stay on their feet?

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.

With their 1-0 victory over Chunnam Dragons, the team which is owned by a church and whose league best 7 championships would suggest they do in fact have some sort of higher power on their side, emerged victorious to claim their prize. What was it? What had they fought so valiantly for?

The fourth and final Asian Champions League spot.

FC Seoul and Incheon United both fell at he first hurdle on the weekend via penalty shootouts after 1-1 draws. Tonight it took a wonderful, looping header from a Colombian to oust the Chunnam Dragons.

Since arriving back in Korea after the Peace Cup in Andalusia in August, Seongnam have only lost twice in twelve, including Sunday’s victory over Incheon. A large part of their success has to be put down to star import, Mauricio Molina. In 13 matches for his new employer, the former San Lorenzo, Red Star Belgrade and Santos man has scored 9 and had three assists. Very nice going, indeed.

It was his impressive header which gave his side victory and sent Chunnam home empty handed in a game which was, in truth, a pretty dire affair, full of clumsy challenges and half chances. Chunnam were slightly the better side for most of it and probably should have won, but lacked composure in front of goal. They did have a goal at the death controversially ruled out for offside, but replays showed it could have gone either way.

Nevertheless, Park Hang-Seo must be proud of his players. After securing the final playoff birth on the final day of the regular season with a draw at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, they went back a week later and knocked out last seasons runners-up. The win was especially sweet after being mauled 6-1 at home by FC Seoul in round one.

To go out at the first hurdle was bitterly disappointing for Senol Gunes’ team. They spent 13 rounds in first place this season, more than any other team, and boasted the best defensive record in the league. However, things have been a bit off since Lee Chung-Young’s move to Bolton Wanderers in the summer. It was always going to be difficult to replace someone of Lee’s quality mid-season, and for me it is probably the greatest factor in explaining what was a disappointing end to a season which promised so much for so long.

And with Ki Sung-Young off to Celtic in January and rumors suggesting Gunes is returning home to Turkey, things could get worse for the capital club before they get better. Macedonian international striker Dejan Damjanovic’s 14 league goals won’t have gone unnoticed either. I, for one, wouldn’t be surprised to see him move on to pastures anew next season, too. Perhaps Japan or the Middle East. Watch this space.

One player FC Seoul must surely looking at as a replacement in midfield is talented Incheon United youngster, Yoo Byoung-Soo. The 21 year old had a stellar first season in the K-League, bagging 12 goals. “Incheon Ronaldo” was the standout in an Incheon team which, for much of the year, has been solid without being spectacular; good, but not great; not wonderful, but at the same time, not woeful. A bit ho hum, if you know what I mean. Still, they do have a fair bit of quality in their ranks, and coach Ilija Petkovic is a wise old fox. If they can hold onto Yoo, and dump Jade North and those average Serbians in midfield, they will be there or thereabouts in 2010.

But, this moment belongs to Seongnam Ilhwa. For them, the hard work is done and anything they achieve from this point onwards is purely a bonus. Not that the top two sides, Jeonbuk Hyundai and Pohang Steelers, hold all that much fear for them, having only lost once in four regular season matches. And with a player like Mauricio Molina in his team, Shin Tae-Young must be quietly confident that his chargers aren’t done with yet. Not by a long shot.

After 30 rounds, 210 games and 554 goals, fifteen teams have become six and the real season can finally begin. It’s play-off time in the K-League.

A fair amount of final round drama was to be had before the identities of the play-off contenders could be confirmed. Jeonbuk Hyundai survived a spirited comeback from Gyeongnam FC to win 4-2, and in doing so, claim the minor season crown. This guarantees them entrance into next seasons Asian Champions League, regardless of how they fair in the finals.

It really has been excellent performance thus far by the lads from Jeonju. Choi Kang-Hee’s forward line of Lee Dong-Gook (20) and Choi Tae-Uk (9), as well as Brazilians Luiz (8) and Brasilia (6) combined for 43 of his sides 55 goals. Lee’s 20 also earned him the league’s top scorer award. They are now in something of an awkward position, having to stay fit and motivated for the next 5 weeks as they wait for their championship opponent to be determined.

Pohang Steelers knicked second spot from FC Seoul on the final day courtesy of a late, late Chunnam Dragons equaliser against at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and their routine 1-0 win over a Suwon Samsung who must be ecstatic that their disastrous season has finally come to end. They will take some consolation in the knowledge that they will still be able to take part in next seasons Asian Champions League thanks to their FA Cup crown. Pohang’s 2-1 victory over Saudi club Al-Ittihad in this season’s Champions League Final means they too will be there next season. The Steelers also bagged the domestic Peace Cup, so league victory would give them what would be an incredible treble.

Four K-League teams will compete in next seasons Asian Champions League. With three of those spots now filled, the remaining spot will go to one of the remaining play-off contenders – FC Seoul (3rd), Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (4th), Incheon United (5th) and Chunnam Dragons (6th).

The K-League play-off system is a bit of a strange one. Being regular season champions, Jeonbuk Hyundai progress straight to the two-legged championship decider beginning on December 2nd. Pohang Steelers also earn a rest, proceeding straight to the semi-final match.

The means that the first and second rounds of the play-offs are in effect a fight to the death between the remaining teams to see who meets Pohang in the semi-final.

FC Seoul will go to head to head with Chunnam Dragons in one first round finals match on November 21, with Seongnam Ilhwa hosting Incheon United the day after. The winner of these two one-off matches will meet on November 25 to determine who progresses to the semi-final match against Pohang four days later. Get it? Good.

At the other end of the table, Daegu FC finished bottom after twenty consecutive weeks in last spot. Jeju United, Gwangju Sangmu and new boys Gangwon FC struggled in the second half of the season, and last seasons champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings never really got going in 2009 at all. Gyeongnam FC finished the season very strongly, narrowly missing out on the play-offs and Ulsan Hyundai will point to their Champions League campaign as the source of their troubles in 2009.

But, all that matters now are the play-offs. This year surely represents Jeonbuk’s best opportunity to break their duck and take home their first league crown. It won’t be easy though. Pohang have that aura about them that Barcelona had last season – you can feel that they aren’t done just yet. With skillfull players such as Dejan Damjanovic and Ki Sung-Yong, as well as a crafty manager in Senol Gunes, FC Seoul can’t be written, neither can Ilija Petkovic’s Incheon United.

It’s going to be some fight. I can’t wait for it to begin.

Viva K-League!

Despite having to travel to the Middle East for midweek Asian Champions League quarterfinal first legs, FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers both shook of fatigue and jet-lag to bag another three points in round 25 of the K-League.

Seoul cruised to a 3-0 win over Daejeon Citizens, with Jung Jo-Gook grabbing a second double to go with the one he bagged in Qatar. Pohang Steelers snatched a 2-1 win in Busan courtesy of a winner from Brazilian striker Denilson. And Jeonbuk Hyundai stole a 1-0 win in Incheon to show that, whilst they may not be able to beat any of the teams in the top three, they are still a cut above all the teams below.

The real league battle lies for the remaining three play-off spots.

That’s right – the K-League, like the A-League in Australia, runs with both regular and post-season competitions. I’ll explain the system in greater detail when the play-offs are upon us, but for now all you need to know is that the top six teams at the end of the regular season will be involved.

With half the spots as good as filled, that leaves three up for grabs. The gap between Pohang (40 points) in third and Chunnam Dragons (34) in fourth is six points. As is the gap between them and Suwon Samsung in tenth.

That means there are seven teams in with a realistic shot of still being alive after round 30. Here they are, with their current league positions, points and runs home:

4. Chunnam Dragons (34) – Jeonbuk Hyundai (A), Pohang Steelers (H), Daejeon Citizens (H), Jeju United (H), FC Seoul (A).

10. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (28)– Daegu FC (A), Ulsan Hyundai (H), Seongnam Ilhwa (A), Jeonbuk Hyundai (H), Pohang Steelers (A).

On the face of it, Seongnam Ilhwa are looking good, courtesy of their relatively easy run in. I’d say the same about Ulsan, but they’ve played one more match to this point of the campaign. Seongnam will face the bottom side (Daegu FC) plus two in free-fall (Gangwon and Gwangju) and won’t meet any of the top three.

Unlike the rest of the play-off hopefuls. They must all tackle at least one (Gwangju and Gyeongnam), two (Incheon United and Samsung Bluewings), or all of them (Chunnam Dragons).

I may have outlined seven teams as being in the play-off mix, but the reality is that Gwangju Sangmu and Suwon Samsung will have to do something quite incredible to make it. You can pretty much stick a fork in them. The army boys haven’t won a game for three months and last year’s champions just haven’t got going at all this time around. It is the undeniable quality of Cha Bum-Kun’s squad alone that prevents me from ruling them out completely.

Incheon United may have been solid, and by solid I mean drab and dull, all season, but they’ve never been out of the play-off spots. I expect them to be there or there abouts. I then expect them to exit the play-offs at the first hurdle, so uninspiring has been their football.

That leaves one spot left and three teams. Chunnam have the toughest run home, but possess more quality, despite losing Lee Chun-Soo over the summer, than Gyeongnam or Ulsan. They are my pick to snare it, but who knows.

This years K-League season has been a tight one throughout and with so many teams still with so much to play for, don’t expect the play-off line-up to be set in stone until the very last moment.

BRILLIANT…

Gyeongnam FC

No other team in the K-League can lay claim to the kind of bipolar season Gyeongnam have had.

A season which began with five consecutive 1-1 draws (which has since grown to ten draws in total) and only two wins from the first nineteen matches, is now looking half decent.

The boys from Changwon came from a goal down to run all over Gwangju Sangmu on Sunday. Led by the ever impressive Brazilian, Indio, the 2-1 win was their fifth on the bounce and sees them sitting pretty in the sixth and final play-off spot. Not bad for a team which was second from bottom a month ago. The coach has had to order extra boxes of tissues to cope with the constant nose bleeds his squad are suffering.

Daegu FC

They may still be five points clear in last, but they’re all smiles down Daegu way at the moment.

Their 2-1 home at the Daegu World Cup Stadium over a hapless Gangwon FC was their first home for 17 rounds, and couldn’t have been timelier. Why? Well, they can now lay claim to being on a winning streak.

A two game winning streak (yes, it counts as a streak) may not sound that impressive at first, but considering they represent victories 2 and 3 for the season, one can’t help but be happy for Daegu.

Lee Dong-Gook

The Lion King may be a slow, tired, old lion at European and International level, but he’s a dynamic, powerful, unstoppable one in the K-League.

His 16th and 17th goals of the season came on the weekend in his team’s 3-1 win against a slow and pretty clueless Busan I’Park.

After the match he said, “I don’t have a definite target for this season but as a striker it is true that I would like to have the honour of being the leading goalscorer.”

The former Middlesborough ‘striker’ (I use the term loosely as he never scored a league goal for them) is now four clear in the race to be the league’s leading scorer.

Go you good thing.

FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers

It was a good week for Seoul and Pohang as their match anticipated clash was postponed to allow them more time to prepare for their midweek Asian Champions League matches, in Qatar and Uzbekistan respectively.

Good luck lads – you’re gonna need it.

AVERAGE…

Gwangju Sangmu and Gangwon FC

Are there any teams more out of form at the minute than these two? No – there aren’t.

The army boys from Gwangju have been firing blanks for nine matches now, whilst the K-League’s newest members have only taken home three points once in their last ten matches.

This blog was singing their praises earlier in the season, but both outfits have completely fallen apart in the second half of the campaign, and seeing as neither of them are showing any signs of getting their act together, they must be a little happy that there are only four matches to go.

Seongnam Ilhwa and Incheon United

When two talent plentiful teams such as these meet, you can be forgiven for expecting quality football and a few goals. But, alas, this was not the case on Saturday as Incheon and Seongnam played out a match rivaling that of the Barcelona Inter Champions League fixture in midweek for sheer boredom. A complete and utter waste of time.

Busan I’Park

Hwang Sun-Hong’s men suffered another defeat on the weekend, this time at the hands of title contenders Jeonbuk Hyundai.

The loss meant they’ve now gone six games without a win. The mob from Korea’s second largest city is now in fourteenth. That’s second from bottom.

Jeju United FC

The restoration of team pride which some had predicted would occur following the 8-1 thumping they received last week at the hands of Pohang Steelers didn’t eventuate. The team formerly of Bucheon went down 1-0 to Daejeon Citizens in what was another average performance.

Results: Seongnam Ilhwa 1-1 Incheon United FC, Ulsan Hyundai 1-1 Chunnam Dragons, Daejeon Citizens 1-0 Jeju United, Daegu FC 2-1 Gangwon FC, Gyeongnam FC 2-1 Gwangju Sangmu, Jeonbuk Hyundai 3-1 Busan I’Park.

Top 5: 1. FC Seoul (42) 2. Jeonbuk Hyundai (41) 3. Pohang Steelers (37) 4. Seongnam Ilhwa (33) 5. Incheon United FC (33)

The top two faced off on Saturday night in Seoul. When I last posted, FC Seoul were a handy four points ahead of second placed Jeonbuk Hyundai and looking very solid indeed. Since then, things had gone a little pear shaped for Senol Gunes’ team. Lee Chung-Young left for the bright lights of the English Premier League and the team from the capital were very lucky to hold onto his dynamic midfield partner, Ki Sung-Young. He’s off to Celtic in January. His coach may be off too – but I’ll get to that later.

Three points from a possible nine in the last three rounds had seen Seoul’s lead at the top trimmed to just one. Their meeting with the team from Jeonju couldn’t have come at a worse time. In response, the powers that be advertised the match as “Kids Night.” A chance for families to come along, support their club and enjoy some decent football.

I, along with what must have been close to 25,000 others, were in attendance for what was a match of real quality and entertainment. Before kick-off, we were treated to a montage of Senol Gunes set to a rendition of “You Raise Me Up”, performed by what I can only guess was Korea’s answer to Ronan Keating. The Turkish tactician has been an unhappy chappy lately, due to his run-in with the Korean FA regarding some comments he made about the the standard of refereeing in the K-League. The word on the street is that he wants out come seasons end, so the club thought a show of support may convince him to stick around a little while longer. Time will tell.

Jeonbuk Hyundai came for the win, and they would have got it if not for the heroics of Kim Ho-Jun in the Seoul goal. The young stopper has had an up and down season to say the least, but he was in tremendous form when it mattered, making half a dozen saves of real quality. His efforts meant his team were able to turn a 1-0 half time deficit into a 2-1 victory, courtesy of goals from captain Kim Chi-Gon and Dejan Damjanovic. The win saw Seoul confirm their status as title favourites by pushing their lead at the top back out to four points and Jeonbuk confirm their status as big game chokers.

In reality, only one of the top five from four rounds ago has gone. Gwangju Sangmu are in freefall, having picked up a solitary point from their last eight matches. Their 3-0 loss at home to Suwon Samsung saw them drop to sixth and from the looks of things, they haven’t hit the ground yet.

Replacing them in the top five is Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. The first half of the season was average to say the least for Shin Tae-Young’s mean, but they’re hitting form at the right stage of the campaign. They snatched a 2-1 win in Busan over the weekend, meaning they’ve suffered just one loss in their last six matches, including wins over FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai. They’re up to fourth and looking ominous.

The real story of Round 23 in the K-League, however, came from Jeju Island, where the now unbeaten in twelve Pohang Steelers set a new K-League record by destroying the locals 8-1. Kim Tae-Soo got a couple – as did Stevica Ristic and Kim Chang-Hoon in what was a truly incredible match. Catch the match highlights above.

Results: Gwangju Sangmu 0-3 Suwon Samsung, Jeju United FC 1-8 Pohang Steelers, Incheon United 0-0 Ulsan Hyundai, Chunnam Dragons 0-1 Daegu FC, Gangwon FC 0-4 Gyeongnam FC, Busan I’Park 1-2 Seongnam Ilhwa, FC Seoul 2-1 Jeonbuk Hyundai, Bye: Daejeon Citizens.