Preview : K-League 2020 – Game 1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors vs Suwon Samsung Bluewings

May 5, 2020

With respect to Belarus, Tajikistan and Taiwan, South Korea’s K-League 1 becomes arguably the first major football league to start following the outbreak of Covid-19, with the first game of the season on Friday  May 8^th between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( 2019 Champions ) and Suwon Samsung Bluewings ( 2019 Cup Winners & 8^th in the League). The match is being played behind closed doors with kick-off at 19.00 local time ( 11.00 UK time ). Before the season could start, all K-League players and officials have been tested for the virus and all tested negative.

The league was due to begin on February 29^th but the late start has resulted in changes to the structure of the season. 2019 was a 33 game season followed by 5 Final Round Matches but for 2020 there will now be 22 regular season matches and 5 Final Round matches per team. Sangju Sangmu and the lowest team at the end of this season will be relegated to K League 2.  ( Sangju Sangmu are a military side made up of young South Korean professional footballers serving their compulsory two-year military duty. Fifteen players join up at the start of every season and spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional club ).

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, located about 200km south of Seoul, are the K-League powerhouse, lifting seven league titles since 2009 and five within the last six years, making them very much the team to beat. They are also the Continent’s joint most successful club, having twice won the AFC Champions League and been runner-up on one occasion.

As the name suggests, the club is owned and sponsored by Hyundai Motors, and in 2019 their average attendance for the regular season was 14,491.  The coach is Jose Morais, formerly Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Inter, Real Madrid and Chelsea, and who also had a short spell as manager of Barnsley. Their stadium holds just over 42,000 and hosted three matches during the 2002 World Cup, including the round of 16 match USA 2-0 Mexico.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings, located 32km from Seoul, are one of the more renowned names in Korean football, having enjoyed both domestic and continental success around the turn of the decade. They too have won the Asian Club Championship twice, but in the days before it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League. More recently the Bluewings have been a successful cup team, holding the record for the most number of FA Cups (five) and the now-abolished League Cup (six). One of those FA Cup wins came last season, ensuring their place in the AFC Champions League for 2020. However, after a disappointing league campaign last time out, they will be hoping for a better showing in the K-League 1 this year.

The Bluewings also play in a 43,000 capacity stadium built for the 2002 World Cup, which hosted the round of 16 match between Spain and the Republic Of Ireland, with Spain winning by way of a penalty shoot-out.

The club are owned by a Samsung subsidiary and are sponsored by Samsung, and in 2019 their average attendance was 9,397. Manager Lee Lim Saeng played in the 1998 World Cup, with one substitute appearance in the 1-1 draw with Belgium.

The number of foreign players in the K-League is restricted to five per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries and a slot for a player from ASEAN countries. The latter is an initiative to help develop footballers from the 10 ASEAN nations, who are traditionally amongst the lower ranked countries in the FIFA world rankings. However, as at the time of writing, all 12 sides in the K League 1 have players from AFC countries, all either from Japan, Australia or Uzbekistan, but no ASEAN players are currently registered. Many of the other foreign players come from Brazil, but Serbia, The Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Norway, Bosnia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Montenegro, Nigeria, South Africa and Canada are also represented.

The foreign players for Jeonbuk are Lars Veldwijk ( Dutch born South African International striker, ex Notts Forest & signed from Sparta Rotterdam ), Takahiro Kunimoto ( Japanese forward signed from relegated Gyeongnam ) and Murilo ( Brazilian midfielder signed from Botafogo,  the Sao Paolo one, not the more famous Rio side ! ). Squad number 12 is reserved for the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors supporters, the Mad Green Boys, Jeonbuk play in Green.

For Suwon Bluewings, their foreigners are two Aussie Internationals, Adam Taggart ( ex Fulham and Dundee Utd & the top scorer in K-League 2019 ) & Terry Antonis, Canadian International Doneil Henry ( who had a short loan at Blackburn from West Ham ) and Bosnian Sulejman Krpic ( recently the top scorer in Bosnia league )

Jeonbuk have 4 recent South Korean Internationals, Kim Jin Su ( ex Hoffenheim ), Kim Bo Kyung ( ex Cardiff & Wigan ), Sun Jun Ho, and veteran defender Lee Yong. The Bluebirds only International representative is Hong Chul. Both Lee Yong and Hong Chul were part of the 2018 WC squad and both played in the 2-0 win over Germany.

Both sides qualified for the Asian Championship League Group stages but neither were doing well by the time the competition was suspended. Suwon had lost both their matches, whilst Jeonbuk had lost at home to Yokohama Marinos and drew at Sydney FC.

Domestic TV rights have just been agreed with three Korean channels to cover all K1 and K2 matches, and overseas rights have been sold to 11 markets and three digital platforms.  

The K-League also have a YouTube channel and the Jeonbuk vs Suwon match is due to be streamed live there with an English commentary, so viewers in the UK will be able to watch. However, at the moment this is the only match planned for live streaming on social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRIaHZvjipo

Finally, to get in the mood, here are some picture of the stadiums in the K-League….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF55KaAtJT8