Korean K.League Soccer News - February 2004

John Duerden reports from Incheon

Over fifty years ago, smoke hung over the Korean city of Incheon. Famously, daringly, General MacArthur landed his troops on the beaches of this port on the country’s west coast. The troops landed well behind North Korean lines; caught offside the Communists quickly retreated.

On the first day of March 2004, once again there was a pall of smoke over this city just to the west of Seoul. This time however, the explosions were ones of celebration. Incheon United was playing its first game ever and the pre-match pyrotechnics brought tears to the eyes and drowned out the smell of fresh pizza that was being efficiently delivered to fans’ seats.

Maybe it is no coincidence that the motto of Incheon’s fans is TNT, not the trinitrotoluene kind but instead it stands for ‘terror ‘n’ trembling’. As this was a day aimed at introducing families to football, there wasn’t much in the way of terror, just a mild concern that the pizza wouldn’t arrive before full-time. The only trembling came from the bitterly cold wind that swept in from China, across the Yellow Sea and through this open but impressive World Cup stadium.

More openly impressive was the fact that much of the money to finance this new club, the thirteenth in the K-League, came from the citizens of Incheon. This is not surprising when you consider that football entered the Korean peninsula through Incheon in 1882, when a group of British sailors decided to have a kickabout. Perhaps the only surprise is that it took this city of 2.5 million so long to boast a professional team.

The new team is managed by the former coach of 1860 Munich and Fenerbache, Werner Lorant. United’s fans will hope that the white-haired strategist will have MacArthur’s imagination but not his recklessness. Lorant has spent a good deal of money by K-League standards to build a new team.

Turkey’s Alpay is the biggest ‘name’ in the team. He joined Incheon for a fee of $1.5 million. Much will be expected of the former Villain.

Joining Alpay is one of the young stars of Korean soccer, Choi-Tae wook, who joined his hometown team from LG Anyang for almost a million dollars. The ‘prince’ of Korean football will be hoping that a few good performances will help him realise his dream of playing in England. He will be joined up-front by Andjelkovic and Radoncic from Serbia and Montenegro.

Lorant raided the reigning champions Seongnam Chunma and left with five formerly bit-part players who will have a point to prove and hopefully, for Incheon, have been immersed in a winning culture.

So, to the game. Incheon’s first-ever ninety minutes was against Japan’s Gamba Osaka. The script was followed as the hosts triumphed 4-0. The two Eastern Europeans bagged a first half goal each. The second half was rounded of by two goals from Seongnam old boys, Chun Jae-ho and Hwang Youn-seok.

The two Korean goalscorers will know that Incheon have a lot to do to challenge the Chunma for the title. Incheon attacked well and defended fairly solidly. However, Osaka didn’t seem overly interested and were poor to say the least. A much sterner test will be provided by the Korean cup holders, Chonbuk Motors who visit Incheon’s Munhak stadium on April 3rd, the first day of the new K-League season.

Asian Champions League

So gar, so good for Korea’s two representatives in the AFC Champions League. The Korean Champions Seongnam, have played two and won two against Indonesia's Persik Kidiri and Binh Dinh of Vietnam, 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. Seongnam’s next test will be more difficult as they face Yokohama Marinos in Japan on April 7th.

Seongnam’s two wins were achieved despite also participating in the A3 soccer championship. This East Asian Club Championship, being held in China brings together the champions of Japan, China and Korea with an extra team from the host nation. The four participants were Seongnam, Yokohama, Shanghai Shenhua and International Shanghai.

The boys from Seongnam comprehensively defeated their Japanese rivals 3-0, beat International before drawing 1-1 with Shenhua in the final game, ensuring that the Chunma won the tournament. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that on February 25, the Koreans had to play two games! Seongnam’s second team defeated Binh Dinh of Vietnam in chilly Korea while the first team dispatched of International Shanghai with a 1-0 victory.

Korea’s other representative in the AFC Champions League is the Korean cup holders, Chonbuk Motors who have won one, lost one in its quest to become Asian Champions. Despite going a goal up through the Brazilian striker Edmilson, Chonbuk eventually lost 2-1 to Japan’s Jubilo Iwata. However, a late winner against Shanghai Shenhua means that the boys from Jeonju have a big game coming up against BEC Tero Sasana from Thailand; the two teams are currently level on points. The two teams from Korea should both make it to the next stage.

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