July 23, 2021
When the K-League became one of the first leagues to resume in May 2020 after the suspensions resulting from the Covid pandemic, these diaries covered three matches from the league, as well as a summary from the first week of matches. So it is long overdue for update on the current status in South Korea !
The 2020 season saw the title fought out between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Ulsan Hyundai, the two traditional giants of the league, with Jeonbuk emerging victorious by three points.
These diaries covered Suwon Bluewings when they played in the opening fixture of the 2020 season, a game streamed live on the BBC website given the shortage of any sports around the planet, and they went down 0-1 at Jeonbuk thanks to a late goal from 41 year old Lee Dong Gook ( ex Middlesbrough and 105 International caps for South Korea ). They went onto finish a disappointed 8th in the final standings.
The Bluewings are having a much better 2021 season, and going into today’s match stood in third place in the K-League. They had been unbeaten in 8 matches, until losing 1-2 last time out at home in the Suwon derby to Suwon FC.
Suwon is located 32km from Seoul, and the Bluewings are one of the more renowned names in South Korean football, having enjoyed both domestic and continental success around the turn of the decade. They 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 wins (five) and the now-abolished League Cup (six).
The Bluewings 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. Their average for this season is 2,650 but today’s match was played behind closed doors.
The Bluewings have four foreigners on their books but they have mostly been peripheral figures so far this season. Canadian centre-back Doneil Henry was a mainstay in 2020 but has only played in 8 of the 20 matches so far. Similarly, Australian midfielder Terry Antonis has been reduced to mainly appearances from the bench. Ex-Nottingham Forest Italian forward Nicolao Dumitriu has also only made 8 appearances. Serbian midfielder Uros Deric has made 18 appearances though.
Forward San Bin Jeong has scored 4 times and was called up for his first cap in June. Left wing back Ki Jee Lee has appeared in all 20 league matches and has won his first two caps this year. Captain Min Woo Kim ( 22 caps ) has scored 4 goals this season and Gun Hee Kim is the top scorer with 6 goals but is currently out injured. Tae-Hwan Kim is also ever present in midfield
Incheon United had a remarkable escape against relegation in 2020. With two games of the relegation round to be completed they sat bottom of the table, but wins over fellow strugglers Busan IPark ( 2-1 ) and at FC Seoul ( 1-0 ) saw them inch above Busan and into 11th place. With military side Sangju Sangmu being relegated because of their relocation despite finishing fourth, Incheon avoided a relegation/promotion play-off.
Incheon is the third largest city in South Korea with around 3 million inhabitants and it’s side, which is owned by the city Government, are also having a better season, lying in 7th place with 23 points from 19 matches. Ominously though, they have the worst away record in the league, having taken just 7 points from 9 matches, although last time out they won 1-0 at FC Seoul and they are unbeaten in 5 matches.
Unlike the Bluewings, Incheon’s overseas players have been playing regularly. Costa Rican midfielder Elias Aguilar has featured in all 19 league matches and is the top scorer with 4 goals. Brazilan forward Negueba has appeared 17 times although 8 have been from the bench. Australian centre-back Harrison Delbridge has 18 appearances to his name. Montenegrin striker Stefan Mugosa has scored three times in 8 matches and scored the winner at FC Seoul.
38 year old defender Gwang Seok Kim has also played in all 19 league matches, and fellow defender 33 year old Ban Suk Oh ( 2 caps ) has appeared 16 times.
The two sides had drawn 0-0 when they had met in the first of the season, and Bet365 had Suwon 5/6 favourites to win, with Incheon at 15/4 and the draw at 9/4.
The match was available to watch on Bet365.com but all K1 and K2 are now being shown on tv.kleague.com, and there was a commentary in English for this game !
The temperature at kick-off was 31 degrees.
Bluewings made one change from the side that started against Suwon FC, with Seung Keun Choi coming into midfield in place of Seok Hee Han.
Incheon showed three changes from their win at FC Seoul, 35 year old Chang Soo Kim ( 22 caps ) replaced Ban Suk Oh in defence to play alongside 38 year old Gwan Seok Kim. Surprisingly there was no place in the matchday squad for Aguilar and his place up front was taken by Hyun Kim, whilst Min Soo Kang replaced Bo Seob Kim.
Suwon wore their normal all blue kit, whilst Incheon were in a change kit of all white.
Bluewings nearly got off to a dramatic start with Jeong have a great chance to give his side the lead after only 34 seconds, but after being found in space from Kang’s cushioned header, his shot was straight at the keeper and easily saved. The home side dominated the early stages with over 70% of the possession but without creating any more clear-cut chances.
The pattern of the game changed after 25 minutes. After a break for drinks, Incheon made two substitutions. A rule in the K-League is that every side must start with at least player under 22 years old, and have at least two in the matchday squad. Furthermore, if a side wished to make 5 substitutions they must bring on an under 22 year old player, otherwise they are limited to just 3 subs. Here, Incheon replaced their two under 22 year olds mid-way through the first half and brought on two more experienced players, the Brazilian Negueba and captain Kim Do Hyuk.
Half-time was reached with the game being uneventful, but that changed right at the start of the second period as Bluewings took the lead. The lively Jeong put in a cross from the right, and Deric struck a rocket from the edge of the area into the net off the underside of the bar.
Incheon were soon back in the game though when Bluewings left back Park brought down Jun Yeop Kim for a very soft penalty. VAR reviewed the decision but did not overturn it. Kim’s ankle may have been clipped and there was a brush of his arm but the contact looked slight. In any case, Mugosa drove the penalty down the centre of the goal as Yang dived to his left.
Si Woo Song thought he had given Incheon the lead in the 66th minute but his deflected shot rolled agonisingly wide with the keeper stranded. Soon after Incheon appealed for another penalty, this time for handball, but it looked to be a case of ball to hand, and a penalty would have been harsh.
The game looked to be heading for a draw, but Incheon found the match winning goal with probably their best move of the game. Negueba play a 1-2 with Song and then lifted the ball to Mugosa. The Montenegrin chested the pass,, controlled the rebound from an attempted tackle on his thigh and then volleyed across goal into the top corner. Mugosa now has 5 goals for the season.
The result dealt a major blow to any hopes Bluewings had of winning the title, but Incheon moved into, for them, the heady heights of sixth.
Suwon Bluewings : HM Yang – HI Jang, SG Min, DW Park ( MS Go ) – TH Kim, HM Kang ( SJ Han ), SK Choi ( SJ Jeon ), MW Kim, KJ Lee – Deric ( Dumitriu ), SB Jeong
Incheon United : DH Kim – CS Kim ( JB Kim ), GS Kim, Delbridge – JY Kim, BC Ku ( DH Kim ), H.Jeong, PC Hwan ( Negueba ), MS Kang – Mugosa ( BS Kim ), H.Kim ( SW Song ).
No comments:
Post a Comment