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Home|Football News|K. League News|2004|2005|2006 Season Preview
Korean K.League Soccer Season Preview 2006
John Duerden previews the 2006 K.League seasonIn a World Cup year some may have forgotten about the K-League but the 24th edition of Asia’s oldest professional league kicks off on Sunday. A record number of 14 teams around the country will be hoping to wrest the trophy out of the hands of champions Ulsan. The predictions are an indicator of how the teams may fare over the season as a whole.
K.League: TeamsJeju FC
One month ago, this team was known as Bucheon SK until the company
suddenly moved the club to the southern island. The move has been
met with a deal of opposition but the fact remains that on Saturday
afternoon it will be Jeju that kick off the new season. Last season
Bucheon ended a barren few years by almost making the play-offs,
making the move doubly cruel for fans who have a season without
football to look forward to. Busan I'Park
In 2005 Busan won the first stage and came last in the second.
This season, who knows what will happen on the south coast? A number
of experienced pros have left and much depends on how the new boys
settle in. Credit should be given to coach Ian
Porterfield for recruiting foreigners from outside the usual
K-League overseas hunting grounds of Brazil and the Balkans. Trinidad
star Jefferson will line up in midfield as will North Korean international
An Yong-hak. 
Chonbuk Hyundai Motors
The Jeonju-based outfit struggled in 2005 and finished next to
bottom of the league - surprising as the team reached the semi-finals
of the 2004 AFC Champions League. Lifting the FA Cup at the end
of the season ended also lifted the gloom in the south-west and
gave the team access to the 2006 Champions League and a tough group
with the champions of Japan and China. The Group of Death could
prove to be a distraction. 
Chunnam Dragons
The Dragons didn’t live up to their slogan last year and
were more of a damp squid than a ‘a hot touch’. Classy
Romanian striker Adrain Naega showed enough to suggest that he could
be a real star in the K-League before injuries interfered and the
team – usually, one striving for the play-offs – sank
like a stone. Daegu FC
Daegu impressed last season, only the team’s third in existence
and for a while even looked like making the play-offs. The team
tightened up a leaky defense, but in doing so, also reduced its
own firepower. Still, the fact that coach Park Jung-hwan built a
decent team with little money is a testament to his abilities but
that means little now and it’s time to start all over again. 
Daejeon Citizen
It’s always going to be tough for the city-owned club to
compete financially with some of the corporate teams but fans still
make the, not inconsiderable, trek out to the World Cup stadium
in decent numbers. To compensate for losing Brazilian striker Leandro
to Ulsan, the team has signed three of his compatriots. However,
Daejeon’s most important player remains talented midfielder
Lee Kwan-woo – a former national team player§—
who reportedly impressed Advocaat but not enough to go to Germany. 
Gwangju Samgmu Phoenix
Last year’s cellar-dwellars don’t have much more to look forward to in 2006. Being a military team, half of the squad’s members leave every season when their two-year stint comes to an end. Fans in the south-west’s biggest city still have the pleasure
of enjoying the silky skills of national team winger Chung Kyung-ho
for a little while longer and there are some solid professionals
in the team but it won’t be enough. 
Incheon United
The runners-up start their third season in existence with high
hopes. It is unusual in the K-League for foreigners to hang around
too long but Dzenan Radondic and Jasmin Agic performed well last
season and should be even better this time around. With the talented
Jang Woe-ryeong as coach, the team has the stability and consistency
to stay around at the top. 
Pohang Steelers
Pohang just missed out on the play-offs last year and Brazilian
coach Sergio Farias should find his second season in ‘The
K’ easier than the first. The team is solid but lacks inspiration
and with national team striker Lee Dong-gook openly admitting that
he is looking for a new challenge, the signing of national team
squad striker Choi Tae-wook for Japan’s Shimizu S-Pulse doesn’t
seem quite as exciting. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Even with the retirement of K-League’s record goalscorer
Kim Do-hoon, the six-time champions have a formidable forward line.
2004 league top scorer Mota was on fire in the second half of last
season and helped his Brazilian compatriot Dudu improve his performances.
Korean attackers provide such as Ahn Hyo-yeon and Woo Sung-yung
provide more than adequate back-up. A strong midfield, an experienced
defense and the signing of Kim Yong-dae from Busan, one of the country’s
best goalkeepers make Seongnam the team to beat. FC Seoul
Last season the team from the capital flattered to deceive. This season the capture of maverick goalkeeper Kim Byung-ji from Pohang should stiffen the defense. Fans will be hoping that World Cup hopefuls Park Chu-young, Kim Dong-jin and Jung Jo-gook go all out to impress Dick Advocaat rather than spend the next two months trying to avoid injury. Coach 
Suwon Samsung Blue Wings
The 2004 champions endured their worst ever K-League season in
2005 – a huge underachievement for the star-studded squad
– though injuries took their toll. Former Suwon favorite Denis
Laktionov has returned to the Big Bird Stadium and his attacking
prowess could provide the spark that was missing. A poor start to
this season could spell the end for under fire coach and national
soccer legend Cha Bum-keun. K. League Team uniforms © 2005 Mikhail Sipovich www.colours-of-football.com 
Ulsan Hyundai Horangi
The champions have lost international midfielder Kim Jung-woo
to Nagoya in Japan and the influential Hyun Hyung-min to Russian
team Zenit St. Petersburg. Former national team captain Yoo Sang-chul
has retired. The club still has a strong forward line with national
star Lee Chun-soo, Machado and Choi Song-guk. The Tigers will fancy
their chances of a successful defence as long as the Asian Champions
League doesn’t distract too much. 
Gyeongnam FC The lead’s newest team is looking forward to a first ever
season in the southern city of Changwon. The good people down there
can look forward to what could be a decent season. Highly-rated
young striker Kim Jin-yong made his international debut last summer
and left Ulsan to make the short trip and Brazilian striker Da Silva
showed enough for Pohang and Busan last season to suggest that he
could be a key player. |
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