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Korean K.League Soccer News 1 - November 2003

John Duerden reports from the K. League

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It's a shoo-in for the K-League title with Songnam Ilhwa with their Pegasus mascot wearing those shoes. This horse is no Devon Loch and doesn't need any lucky charms or shoes for two reasons. One, it flies. Two, it crossed the finishing line while the rest of the herd were still striding to reach the final furlong. According to Songnam's official website, the 'stands are so close to the ground, you can practically hear the players breathing'. One can assume that we are talking about the opposition players here as the home team barely breaks into a sweat.

According to Greek legend, the horse master Bellerophron tamed Pegasus with a golden bridle provided by the goddess Athena. How the other K-League coaches would love a similar gift from the gods or at least for their teams to follow such an example of effective teamwork but none is forthcoming as Songnam claim their sixth K-League title. Not bad for a team that only came into existence in 1989 and is currently in their third home- get around these pegasi.

Who needs the Greek Gods when you have the Moonies? The owner of Songnam, Chung Hwan-kwak, is the right-hand man of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Moonies, the religious cult where couples are married en masse without having met before.

Fortunately, the first eleven do seem settled together and are a strong cohesive unit even if some of Songnam's opponents this season have displayed a Moonie-like unfamiliarity with their team-mates.

With four matches to go, Songnam enjoy a whopping 20-point lead over their closest rivals, Ulsan Tigers. They also enjoy the fact that they are the only Korean team to win three titles in a row (93, 94, and 95) and were named as Asia's best club in 1996 by the Asian Football Confederation after winning the Asian Grand Slam, the Asian Club Championship, the Afro-Asia Club Cup and the Asia Super Cup.

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Cha Kyung Bok's team have been consistent and have played a brand of neat and tidy football and can hardly be blamed for the lack of any challenge provided by the other teams. In Korean terms, they are rich and do have the best players. Ulsan did have the handicap of losing their two key players, Korea's Bryan Robson, Yoo Sang-chul and the young winger, Lee Chon-soo to Real Sociedad and struggled to keep in touch with Songnam.

Songnam's canter to victory has been pretty much ignored by the Korean media and public alike. The average attendance in the K-League has fallen from 14,600 last season to only 9,800 this season. Even the champions are suffering. Only 1,700 turned up to watch Songnam's game with Pohang last month. No wonder they can hear the players breathe; the owner marries more than that figure in ten minutes. The summer of 2002 seems as much a legend as the Greek myths themselves.

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