Start of the Long Football Party in Korea - written by 10624 Yun Wonhyeong

Start of the Long Football Party in Korea

written by 10624 Yun Wonhyeong

Finally, the happiest month for Korean football fans came back.

On March 1^st, K League 1, the professional football league of Korea, began its eight-month journey. There are twelve teams in K League, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC, Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC, FC Seoul, Incheon United FC, Pohang Steelers FC, Ulsan Hyundai FC, Jeon-nam Dragons FC, Gyeongnam FC, Gangwon FC, Daegu FC, Jeju United FC, and Sangju Sangmu FC. Those teams compete to get the championship trophy at the end of the Korean football season.

Right before this season started, K League 1 caught the attention of many fans since the transfer market was very busy. Players were either being traded or re-contracted. New players were becoming professionals. These new players were ready to play for their teams.

The biggest story during transfer market period was the transfer of Dejan Damjanovic between Suwon and Seoul. Suwon and Seoul are regarded as the hottest rivals in K League. Damjanovic played for Seoul for eight years and earned nine K League awards. It seemed quite reasonable for all the K League fans to call him the Legend of Seoul. But now he is wearing Suwon’s blue shirt and scoring goals for Suwon. Many Seoul fans can’t help but cry when they now see Blue Dejan.

Which team will be the winner of the league?

Most of experts said that Jeonbuk is undeniable favorite. Jeonbuk has great players such as Lee Jaesung, Kim Jinsu and Kim Minjae who are on the Korean National football team. Jeonbuk also has the top foreign players: Tiago Alves Sales, Ricardo Lopes Pereira and Carlos Adriano de Sousa Cruz. Jeonbuk is called the FC Bayern München of K League. This means Jeonbuk is the top team.

However, there are some teams trying to stop Jeonbuk.

One of them is Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Suwon has good players. The most famous player of Suwon is Yeom Kihun, who made the most assists in K League. In addition, Dejan Damjanovic is great enough to be the top scorer of K League, and Matthew Jurman who plays for Australia national team leads Suwon’s defense. Suwon also received many new players, Wagner da Silva Souza, Lim Sanghyub, and Lee Kije.  They have shown good performance in K League and would be helpful for the team. That’s why Suwon could be a winner in this season.

Ulsan was also considered strong team, but they are ranked on seventh in the league so far. However, people think that two of its players can lead the team to a higher position. They are Park Juho and Mislav Orsic. Park Juho can play three different roles: left back, defending midfielder and central midfielder. It helps team to do well in the league. Orsic is considered one of the best forward in K League. He has scored seven goals in twenty games this season. Ulsan also can be one of the competitors for the trophy.

Gyeongnam is an unexpected competitor for the trophy. Even though this season is their first season for first division after their promotion from second division, the team has currently four wins, one draw, and one loss. Right now the team is ranked third in the league table.

These teams make K League unpredictable and exciting. Now people see who will be the winner of 2018 K League 1.