While I do find it interesting to look at the world and how it’s changing, this blog isn’t exactly the place for that. Yet globalization is finding it’s way into the footballing world. Actually it’s been happening for a while. It used to be that each country, at least the major powers, all had their own identity they were associated with (rightly or wrongly). Brazil had flair and skill, Spain had technical prowess, Germany was smart and efficient, England was strong, Italy was defensive. This applied to the national teams and their clubs. But as time went on, this identity has lessened to an extent, particularly at the club level. Players from all countries have gone to all others. So much so that rules and laws have been needed, or debated, to help clubs keep their identities.

Lately, this has started to become more common at the national team level as well. Players moving from countries to play at the club level, where they stay for several years and earn citizen status in their new country. Then for many, they are eligible to play for that country. There are three basic ways you can qualify to represent a nation:

1) You were born there
2) You had a biological parent or grandparent born there
3) You are a citizen there

The 2nd and 3rd way is how many players gain access to national teams where they are not originally from. Italy’s famous oriundi come to mind. Players like Mauro Camoranesi, Raimondo Orsi, or . . . Amauri. This is common with some European nations, but not in Korea. Korea’s case is that the KFA is attempting to get a player naturalized. A Brazilian named Eninho. Eninho was born in Brazil, and has Brazilian ancestors. Eninho has spent the past five years in Korea plying his trade in the K-League with Daegu and lately Jeonbuk Motors (where he played under Choi Kang-Hee).

Eninho is talented. And he would be a good addition to the squad, which is why Choi and the KFA are pushing for his naturalization. It has since been denied, but the KFA has reportedly filed an appeal. But, who is “right”? Choi and the KFA or society. Should countries use players who have played in their league for a few years in the national team? Does this cheapen national identities?

The general feel in Korea is that most seem to be against this move. Choi seems to favor this move purely for footballing reasons. The committee that recommends naturalization said that they chose not to recommend Eninho because he does not speak Korean, which shows a lack of sincerity on his part, and I agree. It would be one thing if a player truly loved a country he moved to and played for, but I feel that if Brazil and Korea were calling, it would be an easy choice for Eninho.

To contrast this, let’s look at a more high profile case. Giuseppe Rossi. Born and raised in the U.S., Rossi opted to play for Italy, his parent’s homeland and a place he spent some time as a youngster in Parma’s youth set up. Even in the U.S. Rossi told of how he would follow Serie A and the Azzurri. I don’t fault Rossi for picking Italy because of his cultural connection. Eninho seems to have no cultural connection with Korea. He played at several clubs in Brazil and then ended up in Korea. I feel this is the end of Eninho’s connection with Korea. Purely professional.

Which is why I oppose this move; on a philosophical level. There’s a reason why the World Cup, and to a lesser extent Euro, the Copa America, Gold Cup, Asian Championship, and African Cup of Nations is so important to people. Yes, the football is usually a higher level overall, but that’s not the main reason. It’s a time for nations to come together to celebrate a common bond. This feeling may not be as strongly felt here in the U.S., where many of us come from different countries and retain strong connections to them. But in many other countries, such as Korea, the feeling of nationalism is extremely strong. During the regular season, many K-League games experience sparse attendance. Many national team games are only half full. But when the big tournaments roll around, the whole nation is obsessed with the Taeguk Warriors. Many people who could care less about soccer and sports, live and die with each kick of the national team. Top players become national heroes.

I don’t have a problem with club teams who field a large number of imports, but I do with the national team. I realize the value of Eninho and the skill that he could bring to the team, but I hope that Choi Kang-Hee realizes that this isn’t Jeonbuk Motors. It’s not about going out and finding the best players that you can, but utilizing the players available to the best of their ability. Leave the Republic of Korea team to the Koreans. Not the players who play in Korea.

First, to recap, for the final round of qualifying, the following groups were picked:

Group A:
Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, SOUTH KOREA, Uzbekistan

Group B:
Australia, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Oman

Neither group is a cake walk, but you feel that there’s a bit more uncertainty in our group. Uzbekistan is always a tough test, and Iran, a traditional Asian power, seem to be revitalized under Carlos Queiroz. Lebanon isn’t usually strong, but they beat us in the 3rd round (the loss that cost Cho Kwang-Rae his job). Qatar have been tough to break down as well. But, there will be more previews for those matches as they come closer.

The next match for Korea will be against current World and European champions, Spain. That match will be played in Bern, Switzerland on May 30th. Then World Cup qualifying starts, with the boys heading to Qatar for the opening match, and then returning home to face Lebanon in Goyang (both of these matches will be in June).

No call-ups have been announced as of yet, I’ll post them when they’re released.

Choi fielded a side similar to the one that claimed a 4-2 win over Uzbekistan a few days prior in Jeonju. The most notable change was the inclusion of Park Chu-Young. Some reports before the match claimed that Park may be excluded from the starting XI due to friction between him and Choi favorite Lee Dong-Gook, or because of a lack of match fitness, or because of lack of familiarity with Choi and his new teammates. In the end, none of it mattered as Choi, apparently still saw Park’s recent goal run for us as important enough to include him. Park was however, stripped of the captain’s armband that former boss Cho Kwang-Rae had given him. Defender Kwak Tae-Hwi led the team out of the tunnel. But the match. Choi’s first non-friendly team took the field like this:

Lee Dong-Gook

Han Sang-Woon / Park Chu-Young / Lee Keun-Ho

Kim Do-Heon / Kim Sang-Sik

Choi Hyo-Jin / Kwak Tae-Hwi (C) / Lee Jung-Soo / Park Jae-Won

Jung Sung-Ryong

Despite the scoreline, the win was not a comfortable one for Korea. In fact, for large stretches of the game Kuwait looked the better side. It took Korea, probably about 20-25 minutes to really start getting into gear. For the first 20 minutes Park Chu-Young led the attack with Lee Dong-Gook dropping deeper. After 20 minutes they switched and the team seemed more together. Which makes sense, Park is technically superior than Lee and is more comfortable in a more midfield position. Lee, on the other hand, is more comfortable with his back to goal. The change worked and Korea played more “their” game.

The rest of the team still looked a bit shaky. The midfield in particular seemed very disjointed. Possibly due to not being very familiar with each other, or possibly due to a lack of match fitness. None of the players currently actively playing since the K-League was just ending their preseason workouts and Park Chu-Young does not feature for Arsenal. There seemed to be a lack of communication between the players with too many passes going astray. The team also seemed to lack a focal point to play through. Under Cho, the team was a technical, short passing side with Ki Sung-Yueng there to help control the pace of the game and help change the direction of play. In this match the team seemed to still want to play this way, but lacked someone to control the passing. The team also lacks a creator in attack. Lee Kuen-Ho, who scored the second goal and helped create the first, was probably the best on the pitch, but created mainly from his pace. But his touch and vision was lacking at times, and I’d be hesitant to rely on him in the future. To help create a comparison, he’s similar in some regards to Theo Wolcott.

In the end though, the team won and qualified for the final round of qualifying, which I suppose is all that matters. Due to my lateness with this post, the final qualifying groups have already been announced. These are the following groups:

Group A:
SOUTH KOREA, Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar, and Lebanon

Group B:
Japan, Australia, Iraq, Jordan, Oman

Not the easiest of groups, but Korea should qualify. It certainly won’t be easy, and there are, as always, plenty of questions that still need to be answered. But for now, let’s just let out that breath of relief that we’re in the last round. Things could have been much worse.

Position Name Club Caps/Goals
GK Kim Young-Kwang Ulsan Hyundai 14/-10
GK JUNG Sung-Ryong Suwon Samsung 40/-32
GK KWOUN Sun-Tae Sangju Sangmu 0/0
DF LEE Jung-Soo Al-Sadd(QAT) 47/5
DF KIM Hyung-Il Sangju Sangmu 2/0
DF . KIM Chang-Soo Busan I-park 2/0
DF KWAK Tae-Hwi Ulsan Hyundai 21/4
DF PARK Won-Jae Jeonbuk Hyundai 7/0
DF CHOI Hyo-Jin Sangju Sangmu 14/1
DF HONG Jeong-Ho Jeju Utd. 14/0
DF OH Beom-Seok Suwon Samsung 39/2
DF CHO Sung-Hwan Jeonbuk Hyundai 3/0
MF KIM Do-Heon National Police Agency 59/11
MF Choi Tae Wook FC Seoul 29/4
MF KIM Sang-Sik Jeonbuk Hyundai 58/2
MF KIM Chi-Woo Sangju Sangmu 23/2
MF HAN Sang-Wun Seongnam Ilhwa 0/0
MF KI Sung-Yueng Celtic(SCO) 44/5
MF LEE Keun-Ho Ulsan Hyundai 39/10
MF SHIN Hyung-Min Pohang Steelers 7/0
MF HA Dae-Sung FC Seoul 2/0
MF KIM Jae-Sung Sangju Sangmu 13/2
FW KIM Shin-Wook Ulsan Hyundai 6/0
FW LEE Dong-Gook Jeonbuk Hyundai 86/25
FW PARK Chu-Young Arsenal(ENG) 57/23

Notable absences are Cha Du-Ri, Ji Dong-Won, Koo Ja-Cheol, and Son Heung-Min. Koo is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Cha and Ji due to lack of playing time at their clubs, while Son is excluded probably due to age and experience.

Notably here is Park Ju-Young, Lee Dong-Gook, and Ki Sung-Yueng. Lee Dong-Gook, actually isn’t that surprising given his experience with the national team (86 appearances, the most of any called played), his history with Choi, and his importance at Jeonbuk. However, when you consider he hasn’t been terribly impressive for Korea, one wonders if he should be counted on as the potential hero we need right now. Ki is a slight surprise given he’s falled down the pecking order at Celtic and is also coming off an injury. It is certainly possible that he could have been in the notable absences list, but there definitely isn’t a quality replacement for his role at the moment. In the last match, where Ki missed due to illness, the team looked lost in midfield with no player to spread the play.

Park Ju-Young. So important that he gets his own paragraph. Despite not featuring, virtually at all (save for one Carling Cup appearance and one Champions League appearance), for Arsenal he still gets a call. Likely due to the number of goals that he scores for Korea. Will he start? Who knows? It’s certainly possible that Choi will turn to Lee Dong-Gook instead. But, Park is the captain (although that may change) and his record speaks for itself. But is he match fit? Is he ready to cope with the pace and emotions of a must-win qualifier after not even making the bench lately for Arsenal? Questions. So many questions.

Good calls? Bad calls? Someone missed who shouldn’t have? Someone here who shouldn’t be? What do you think?

It’s an odd move really. Simply because of the timing. The team is in a very precarious position. One qualifying game left with everything to play for, whether the dream of Brazil 2014 dies or continues on to the final round. And it is now that the men in charge decide to change managers? Admittedly, there have been some very disappointing performances in the latter half of 2011, the 3-0 loss to Japan and the 2-1 shock to Lebanon. But, to make the change now is a bit head scratching. In an interview, Cho suggested that outside powers, possibly political, were behind it. If a coach is to be fired (or hired), it is done by the KFA’s technical committee. This committee did not meet to discuss or vote on Cho’s position, at least, according to Cho. The head of the committee, Kwan Hwang-Bo, met Cho privately and informed him that the KFA’s vice-chairmen had decided that it was time to leave, and Kwan suggested to Cho that he agree.

Today, Kwan appeared in front of journalists to help clear up the issue. The transcript of the press conference (in Korean), can be read here. In short, Kwan clarified that he had not consulted the committee because there really is no committee right now. So, with no official committee to consult, Kwan met with senior officials and together they decided to act.

I’ve always considered, that one of my biggest strengths was the ability to see both sides of an issue. And to an extent, I can understand the KFA’s view, that qualification is in jeopardy and they must act to ensure that the team advances. However, it seems that this move only seeks to jeopardize it. The next qualifier is a few months away, but there isn’t much time for a new coach to come in and work with the players. Will the new coach seek to implement their own style of play or continue with Cho’s methods? How will the players respond to a new boss? Will they be able to find a qualified manager so quickly? So many questions with no answers leaves me even more concerned about the future.

Firing him now seems to be a massive mistake. I could understand it, if the team does not qualify, but they certainly have a good chance of qualifying. All that is needed is a point, and we will play the final match in Korea. By firing him, the KFA is basically saying, “We don’t believe that you will be able to get a point for us at home.” I don’t see any indication that this wouldn’t happen. Under Cho, the team is 6-2-1 at home, with the one loss coming in Cho’s second game in charge (against Iran). In the past, I’ve had my doubts and criticisms of Cho, but I have always appreciated his strategy and view of the future of the Korean team. The team certainly seems stronger to me than they did in South Africa 2010. The defense is the same, but the midfield has gotten much better, as has the attack. Cho had a clear vision, and I don’t feel he was given enough time to really implement it. Granted time is the one thing that no manager is afforded at the top level. Unfortunately, it may come back to bite Korea in the butt.

As far as replacements go, there are none really tipped to become the new boss. Hong Myong-Bo, the U-23/Olympic team coach has ruled himself out, as has Jeonbuk Motor’s Choi Kang-Hee. Former assistant coach Afshin Gotbi has done likewise. Kwan stated that the new coach does not need to be Korean, but does need to be familiar with Korean football. I’m racking my head to think of who they’ll hire, but cannot think of anyone. Whoever it is, I hope it all works out for the best.

Coach Cho K.R. named a strong XI of :

Ji Dong-Won

Park Chu-Young / Koo Ja-Cheol / Seo Jung-Jin

Ki Sung-Yueng / Lee Yong-Rae

Kim Young-Kwan / Lee Jung-Soo / Hong Jeong-Ho / Choi Hyo-Jin

Jung Sung-Ryong

This line up would seem to be Cho’s strongest, with the exception of the injured Lee Chung-Yong. Despite the fact that most of the team, particularly in the center, have played together, they looked unorganized. Ki S.Y. and Lee Y.R. didn’t have the smoothest of partnerships and Koo J.C. seemed a little lost. He looked far from the player that grabbed so much attention at the Asian championships last winter. His move to Wolfsburg, seems to be on the verge on the tag “ill-fated”, as he has not impressed there, and is struggling to get minutes. Granted Koo is young, but you’d like him to be playing consistently somewhere. A loan move may be in order, but I digress.

Ji D.W. was average in his performance, and he most certainly would have liked to do better, with club boss Steve Bruce in the house. But, Ji missed one golden chance to score, when Korea was up 1-0, but could not direct his header down on target. Park C.Y. continued to supply the goals for Korea, as he tries to convince Arsene Wenger that he’s good enough for Arsenal. Seo Jung-Jin did well, but does not seem to provide enough of a spark to push out Lee C.Y. once he returns to full fitness.

Defensively, the team looked . . . okay. Hong and Lee J.S. seem to be the preferred center backs for Cho. It will be interesting to see what happens with Lee J.S. following the brawl between his club team (Al-Sadd) and Suwon in the ACL. Certainly he seemed unsettled after the incident, and may be looking to move. Whether this affects Cho’s thinking on him will be something to look out for. Kim Y.K. did well at left back, but was not as influential as he was earlier, against Serbia in his debut. He is still probably our left back for the future though. Choi Hyo-Jin was average. Didn’t make too many mistakes, but wasn’t great. Cha Du-Ri will probably be the preferred right back, when healthy.

Despite the shaky performance, the team is still in a good position. Top of the group, and looking to qualify for the next round fairly comfortably. The next match is once again versus the U.A.E., this time in Dubai, in about two weeks time.

Cho did employ the 4-1-4-1 formation against Serbia. His starting XI was as expected:

Park Chu-Young (c)

Lee Keun-Ho / Lee Yong-Rae / Kim Jung-Woo / Lee Chung-Yong

Ki Sung-Yueng

Kim Young-Kwan / Hong Jeong-Ho / Lee Jung-Soo / Cha Du-Ri

Jung Sung-Ryong

The team played as they have in the past. The midfield is solid, the defense competent, but shaky at times, the attack capable of brilliance. I suppose overall the play is good, but it’s slightly concerning that progress is not more evident in areas that have been weaknesses since Cho arrived. Let’s look at each area of the team from the Serbia match.

Goalkeeper: Jung S.R. continues to be solid and a worthy successor of Lee Won-Jae. His reflexes are very good as evidenced early in the match when he made a good save against a Serbian header and then quickly followed up by pushing the rebound strike up onto the crossbar to collect. But, he is still prone to being slightly indecisive and hesitant. He was fortunate not to end up on the wrong end of a youtube highlight video when Radosav Petrovic took a shot from half way that ended up deflecting off the upright. Jung was badly out of position and was scrambling back to get there and, if the ball had been a foot to the right, would not have been able to keep it out.

Defense: Still better attacking than defending. Cha D.R. and Kim Y.K. had solid outings and were very effective going forward. Indeed, Kim had an assist for Park C.Y.’s goal and scored himself later with Cha picking up the assist that time. Still, Kim had some problems with Zoran Tosic on the left and it was his poor clearance that led to Serbia’s late goal. Cha left a few holes behind him when he went forward as usual. Lee J.S. and Hong J.H. had solid outings, but similar to Jung S.R. in goal, do not exactly inspire confidence. Lee seems to be Cho’s first choice in center, and Hong is young (21) and will hopefully develop into a good partner.

Midfield: Certainly our strongest area. The usual three, Lee Chung-Yong, Ki Sung-Yueng, and Lee Yong-Rae all had decent games. Ki distributed the ball well, although I have some concerns about him being the only defensive cover for the backline against better opposition as he’s not really a defensive midfielder. Lee Y.R. did well as well, but missed a good opportunity to score early. Lee C.Y. had a slightly subpar outing by his standards. He ran a lot and hustled, but lacked that creative spark that he usually brings to the right. I’m not a close follower of Bolton, but I seem to recall reading that Lee C.Y. had some problems re-adjusting back into the Bolton line up following the Asian Cup. Maybe that is still affecting him a bit, or maybe he’s just a little low on energy following a long Premiership campaign? Either way he’ll need to be better in the future. Kim Jung-Woo continues to play well in the supporting striker/attacking midfield role. He seems to have a natural predatory instinct, but at 29 does he figure in Cho’s plans for 2014 and what will happen when Koo Ja-Cheol returns to the line up? The final player in the midfield was Lee Keun-Ho who did not do anything to really cement or challenge for a spot in the XI. There will likely be more chances for him, but right now I’d say he is certainly the most likely to get sent to the bench for the aforementioned Koo.

Forwards: Park Chu-Young. Hmmm, where to play him. He’s not a typical number 9, which is currently the spot he’s occupying in the team. I advocated for him to take Park Ji-Sung’s role, a free roaming attacking midfield spot (although with less defensive responsibilities) where he can use his pace and creativity to spark the attack behind a more traditional number 9 (Ji Dong-Won). However, in the current 4-1-4-1, Park really can only play in the forward spot. A traditional midfield role does not suit him and I think it would be a waste to put him there. That being said, I thought that against Serbia he was largely invisible due to the fact that he was playing by himself up top. It must be mentioned though that he did score a wonderful header.

Overall the team’s effort was solid. They rarely looked to be under too much pressure, except on set pieces and was comfortable in possession. They weren’t exactly carving Serbia up, but still the passing was good and the team seems to be getting used to Cho’s emphasis on quick transitions from defense to offense. Hopefully soon he’ll begin working with the defenders on being a little more assertive on set pieces and winning the ball. Ghana on Tuesday. Should be a tough test for Korea. More on that match later.

Goalkeepers
Jung Sung-Ryong (Suwon), Kim Jin-Hyeon (Cerezo Osaka), Kim Young-Kwang (Ulsan)

Defenders
Lee Jung-Soo (Al Sadd), Hong Jeong-Ho(Jeju), Lee Jae-Sung (Ulsan), Lee Sang-Duk (Daegu), Hwang Jae-Won (Suwon), Cha Du-Ri (Celtic), Park Won-Jae (Jeonbuk), Kim Young-Kwon (Omiya), Kim Jae-Sung (Pohang)

Midfielders
Shin Hyung-Min (Pohang), Lee Yong-Rae (Suwon), Yoon Bit-Garam (Gyeongnam), Kim Jung-Woo (Sangju), Ki Sung-Yueng (Celtic), Ko Myong-Jin (Seoul), Koo Ja-Cheol (Wolfsburg), Nam Tae-Hee (Valenciennes), Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton), Lee Seung-Hyun (Jeonbuk), Kim Bo-Kyung (Cerezo Osaka), Lee Keun-Ho (Gamba Osaka)

Forwards
Park Chu-Young (Monaco), Ji Dong-Won (Chunnam), Jung Jo-Gook (Auxerre)

The usual suspects, Jung Sung-Ryong, Park Chu-Young, Lee Chung-Yong, Ki Sung-Yueng, Cha Du-Ri, and Koo Ja-Cheol are all there plus a few new K-League guys. With the first match against Serbia less than 24 hours away, news has come out about Cho’s planned tactics and starting XI.

Formation: 4-1-4-1

Park Chu-Young

Lee Keun-Ho / Kim Jung-Woo / Lee Yong-Rae / Lee Chung-Yong

Ki Sung-Yueng

Kim Young-Kwon / Lee Jung-Soo / Hong Jeong-Ho / Cha Du-Ri

Jung Sung-Ryong

Despite the fiddling with the formation, I expect the team will play pretty much the same as it has under Cho. When attacking it’ll function like a 4-3-3, and when defending it’ll look like a 4-5-1. Kim Jung-Woo will be a key to the attacking success of the team as I’m still not convinced that Park C.Y. is a true number 9. I actually thought that Jo Dong-Won had done enough at the Asian Cup to warrant a shot at keeping his spot up top with Park C.Y. replacing Park Ji-Sung in a more floating attacking role, but Ji D.W. hasn’t featured much for Cho since Qatar. Notably missing from the starting XI is Cho favorite Koo Ja-Cheol. Since his winter move to Wolfsburg, Koo has not played much and Cho has stated that he is not starting due to the fact that he, “has not found his rhythm”. It will be interesting to see how Koo alters the XI when he does find his rhythm. Most likely he would push out either Kim J.W. or, more likely, Lee Keun-Ho. Time will tell though.

However, there is still the matter of the match against Serbia. Serbia is missing several big name players, most notably, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic. Other names not on the squad list are Milos Krasic, Branislav Ivanovic, Nikola Zigic, and Milan Jovanovic. The team is comprised mostly of talented young players such as Adem Ljajic, Zoran Tosic, and Neven Subotic. Despite Serbia’s lack of experience (only three players with more than 30 caps), I expect a tough test from the European side. It wasn’t that long ago that Serbia was on their way to upsetting the traditional powers in Europe. At South Africa they had the potential to make some waves, but under performed.

Hopefully it will be a fun match and we’ll get to see the team take another step towards 2014, at least in terms of the team chemistry and tactics. After Serbia, it’s Ghana on June 7th.

Besides the five players arrested, the scandal has claimed two other lives. A few weeks ago Incheon United goalkeeper Yoon Ki-Won was found dead in his car, police suspected it was suicide. With the news of the scandal breaking, it is now believed that Yoon possibly may have been involved. Another player, at third-tier side Seoul United, Jeong Jong-Kwan, committed suicide, leaving a note stating that he was ashamed of his role in match-fixing. Many other players are being investigated. The most notable are players from K-League clubs such as Pohang Steelers, Gwangju FC, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, and Daejeon Citizens.

It remains to be seen how this scandal affects the already struggling K-League. Attendance has been down over the past few years and since the scandal broke, average attendance around the country dropped. K-League officials have promised to eliminate match-fixing in the league in an effort to maintain the league’s reputation, but what else are they going to do? Hopefully this will not be a problem again in the future and the league will be able to survive. Football is very popular in Korea, at least for the national team, and this certainly deals a blow to the domestic league. More information will be published as it becomes available.

Friday evening reports started to filter out that police had found the body of 24 year old Incheon United goalkeeper Yoon Ki-Won had been found in his car at a rest stop. Reportedly a still smoking charcoal briquette had been found on the seat next to him. Police are investigating, but are currently treating it as a suicide. Yoon had been considered a promising talent for Incheon. He had started the first seven matches of the season for Incheon before being dropped. Yoon was only 24 years old.

Later in the weekend, on Sunday at the match between Jeju United and Daegu. Late in the match, Jeju forward Shin Yong-Rok collapsed suddenly on the pitch. He was quickly taken to the local hospital where he was diagnosed and treated for heart failure which resulted in a stoppage of blood flow to his brain. Shin is still in a coma. He is reportedly doing slightly better as he is breathing on his own, but still has a long way to go to recover.

Certainly, the South Korea blog sends thoughts and prayers to both players’ family and loved ones. Both are certainly sombering examples that put things in perspective that while soccer/football may mean a lot to us, there are bigger things in life.

While both incidents are tragic, life does go on, and there were matches held on the weekend. The SK blog was at the Asiad Stadium to see a resurgent Busan I’Park take on top of the table Pohang Steelers. Here’s a round up of the results from round 9:

Jeonbuk 1 – 0 Ulsan
Suwon 1 – 2 Chunnam
Jeju 3 – 0 Daegu
Sangju 3 – 4 Seoul
Gangwon 1 – 1 Seongnam
Daejeon 1 – 2 Incheon
Busan 2 – 1 Pohang
Gyeongnam 1 – 0 Gwangju

Table – After Round 9
Team / Points / Goal Difference
1. Jeonbuk / 19/ +12
2. Pohang / 18 / +7
3. Sangju / 16 / +4
4. Gyeongnam / 16 / +1
5. Jeju / 15 / +3
6. Suwon / 13 / +1
7. Chunnam / 13 / 0
8. Daejeon / 12 / +2
9. Busan / 12 / 0
10. Seoul / 12 / -2
11. Incheon / 12 / -3
12. Daegu / 11 / -3
13. Ulsan / 10 / -2
14. Gwangju / 10 / -6
15. Seongnam / 7 / -2
16. Gangwon / 2 / -11

Busan is probably the league’s hottest team right now. After starting the season slow and dropping all the way to 15th, the team has reeled off three straight victories to climb up to 9th place and knocked off then-top of the table Pohang on the weekend in a scrappy, fiesty affair. Seoul similarly has found their winning ways and has managed to haul themselves out of the bottom of the table. Gangwon, conversely, has not. Although things have gotten slightly better as after going seven matches without picking up a single point, they have managed two draws to pick up two points.

Schedule – Round 10
Chunnam vs Daejeon
Gangwon vs Gwangju
Incheon vs Busan
Seoul vs Gyeongnam
Pohang vs Jeonbuk
Ulsan vs Jeju
Seongnam vs Suwon

The top match (on paper at least) is Pohang vs Jeonbuk which will see the top two teams face off. Other interesting matches are a resurgent Seoul take on the always steady Gyeongnam