With the temperatures and humidity levels rising all over the Korean peninsula, the nation’s players will be happy that the K-league is taking a five-week break. Recent games have seen most of the 22 on the pitch collapse on the turf in exhaustion as the referee blows his whistle to signal the end. Not all players will be resting, 18 of them will be heading to China to play in the Beijing Olympics- more about that next week. For those left behind, and especially the coaches, there will be a lot of thinking going on over the next month. Suwon, Seongnam and Seoul may be lording it at the top of the pile but there are plenty of others not so well off. The one with the most to consider is Hwang Sun-hong. The hero of the 2002 World Cup is one of South Korea’s best ever strikers but his first coaching job is not going so well. Busan I’Park started the season with a win on the opening day against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. 14 games later and Hwang is still looking for victory number two following four ties and ten defeats. Busan has been unlucky at times; playing well against some of the big boys and losing to last-minute strikes. The south coast team, which contains Ahn Jung-hwan, had never been handed a heavy defeat - until last Saturday that is. That was when free-scoring Daegu FC won 4-0 at Busan’s World Cup Stadium. Three of the goals came in the final minutes as Busan desperately tried to get something out of the game. Still, it was a sobering result and the defending was enough to drive long-suffering Busan fans, and perhaps coach Hwang, to drink. Ahead of Busan in the standings, but only just, are the three Jeolla clubs. Gwangju Sangmu is a perennial struggler and it is no surprise to see the military-run team, reliant on conscripts to the army and unable to sign players, struggle in the nether regions but more was expected of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. The Jeonju team is improving slightly but has won just four games in a season when the 2006 Asian champions was at least expected to finish in the top six with such players as Kim Hyeung-bom, Chung Kyung-ho and Cho Jae-jin on its books. Further south, Chunnam Dragons are also struggling. The Gwangyang club has never been one of the league’s big boys but three wins all season is a poor return. Jeju United spent much of this season languishing near the bottom. Four straight wins in June and July changed all that as Brazilian boss Arthur Bernardes has the team playing some good football and the islanders are outside bets for a top six finish and a place in the play-offs. Incheon United is in the opposite situation. The west coast port city started the season on fire and won its opening three games. Only two more have followed and some of the football on display at the Munhak Stadium has not been especially exciting with an over-reliance on big Serbian striker Dzenan Radonic partly at fault. Daejeon Citizen is a team usually tough to defeat. The Purple boys squeezed into the play-offs last season but have yet to find the same sort of form this time round. Goals are very hard to come by for Kim Ho’s team with a measly 11 netted in 15 games. A 1-0 win over Suwon the round before last was well-received but the veteran silver-haired Kim has to find some magic from somewhere over the next few weeks. Gyeongnam FC has been in reasonable form and currently lies in sixth –the last play-off spot. The Changwon-based club has coped well after the coach and its two best players left at the end of last season and new Brazilian signing Indio is starting to impress along with young midfielder Seo Sang-min. Up the road, Daegu is having a real roller-coaster of a season. The team has scored 31 goals, one more than leaders Suwon but the problem is the fact it has conceded 37.Games involving Daegu are usually high scoring with the Korean duo of Lee Keun-ho and Jang Nam-seok doing the damage only to look on in dismay as the defense is breached once again. If Daegu can tighten that backline without sacrificing its potency in attack, a place in the play-offs awaits. The two South-eastern coastal cities Pohang Steelers and Ulsan Hyundai are in their usual positions of fourth and fifth. Neither team has impressed on a consistent basis but have enough good players to get the results that will put them in the play-offs. Once you book that ticket, as Pohang knows only two well, anything can happen. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

1. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (last season 2) Solid Suwon will be there or thereabouts. The defence is not getting any younger but still contains Lee Woon-jae in goal and the inspirational Mato Neretjlak at centre-back. The midfield boasts Lee Kwan-woo and Baek Ji-hoon but no longer South Korea captain Kim Nam-il. The combative Kim has headed to Japan and Vissel Kobe and it will be interesting to see how North Korean international An Yong-hak does in his place. Ahn Jung-hwan has left but after scoring no league goals last season, the Lord of the Rings will not be missed. Suwon’s one weakness could be a lack of firepower in front of goal. Key Player: Lee Kwan-woo Coach: Cha Bum-keun 2. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (1) The seven-time champions lost the title in the play-offs last season but have been strangely quiet in the close-season. Star midfielder Kim Do-heon has joined West Bromich Albion and fellow international and goalkeeper Kim Yong-dae has cropped his Beatles mop-top and started his two-year stint at military team Gwangju Sangmu. Kim has been replaced by Jung Sung-ryeong. The Olympic goalkeeper aside, incomings haven’t been inspiring and it remains to be seen if the club can stay at the top. Key Player: Kim Sang-sik Coach: Kim Hak-beom 3. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (8) It was another disappointing domestic season for the 2006 Asian Champions but there are positive signs for the coming year. That is mainly because Cho Jae-jin has signed on the dotted line in Jeonju. The striker’s three years near the top of the scoring charts in Japan with Shimizu S-Pulse are not quite enough to erase memories of not many goals during his time in Korea and also were not quite enough to earn a big-money move to England. He has something to prove and if he finds his shooting boots then Jeonbuk will have a very interesting forward line of Macedonian marksman Stevica Ristic and Ze Carlo of Brazil. For the first time since 1996, Jeonbuk will start the season without defender Choi Jin-cheul who has retired after over 300 appearances for the club. Key Player: Kim Hyung-beom Coach: Choi Kang-hee 4. Pohang Steelers (5) The champions actually finished with a negative goal difference in 2007 and only made the play-offs on the last day. The team caught fire in the championship series however, disposing of Gyeongnam, Ulsan, Suwon and finally Seongnam, all away from home. Popular playmaker Taveres has left for Brazilian club Internacional but Daejeon’s deadly Denilson should be an adequate replacement. The striker found the target 14 times last season. Since the title triumph, young stars such as Park Won-jae, Hwang Ji-soo and Hwang Jae-won have seen international action. It promises to be a good season. Key Player: Denilson Coach: Sergio Farias 5. FC Seoul (7) 2007 was a real roller-coaster ride for the club. New boss Senol Gunes seemed to have a magic touch when he arrived and led the club to top of the league after the first month. Then it all went wrong as the strikers couldn’t score and the players couldn’t stay fit. The big-money move of the winter was the capture of Serbian striker Dejan Damjanovic from Incheon United. If he can forge a good partnership with the inury-prone Park Chu-young then a play-off place beckons for the capital outfit. Key Player: Ki Sung-yong Coach: Senol Gunes 6. Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I (3) Ulsan are never far away from the summit of the league but the team just doesn’t have the same look of quality in-depth that it had when back in the championship year of 2005. All three Brazilians have left with Almir the one that will be missed the most. The capture of Luisinho, prolific in Daegu last year, should help fans cope with that loss. There is a little staleness about the team and the Tigers need to sharpen their claws if they are to make it a second title in four seasons. Key Player: Luisinho Coach: Kim Jung-nam 7. Chunnam Dragons (10) Despite lifting two FA Cups in the last two seasons, the South Jeolla club has struggled in the league. Defeating Pohang Steelers in the cup final in December was the last act of coach Huh Jung-moo before he left to take the reins of the national team. Since then, Huh has been calling up a number of Dragons to the national side which begs the question that if there were so many good players at the club then why did they finish in tenth last season? The capture of coach Park Hang-seo should be a positive one as is the signing of Brazilian striker Schuba. Chunnam should finish higher than last season. Key Player: Kwak Tae-hwi Coach: Park Hang-seo 8. Daejeon Citizen (6) Deajeon have seen all three foreigners leaves in the last few months. The afore-mentioned Denilson is the biggest loss but Chunnam-bound Schuba looked very good in the second half of last season. That was when 1994 World Cup boss Kim Ho took over. The wily old fox somehow steered the club into the play-offs but that was as good as it got. Kim has brought in some new faces this season. Much depends on how they settle but a top six finish could be beyond the central club in 2008. Key Player: Kim Hyung-il Coach: Kim Ho 9. Incheon United (9) Last season was ultimately disappointing for the bad boys of Korean football. For so long, the team was within touching distance of a play-off place only to fall away on the final day. The loss of Damjanovic is a big blow. Coach Jang Woe-ryeong, who has returned from a year’s sabbatical in England, has yet to spend the money from that sale. Key Player: Dragan Mladenovic Coach: Jang Woe-ryeong 10. Jeju United (11) Jeju are another team that have suddenly enjoyed a much-increased representation on the national team. The signs are that the island club could have a reasonable 2008 after two turgid terms since relocating from Bucheon in 2006. Many eyes will be on new –and fairly unknown – coach Brazilian Arthur Bernardes. He has brought in a couple of compatriots too but how the club’s young Korean prospects fare is of more interest this season. A mid-table finish will be satisfactory for the club. Key Player: Ka Ju-cheol Coach: Arthur Bernardes 11. Gyeongnam FC (4) Losing a coach is unfortunate. Losing a coach, playmaker and top scorer is downright careless and it will be a miracle if the Changwon club reproduces the fourth place finish of 2007. Boss Park Hang-seo fell foul of the politics at the club and moved to Chunnam. K-league top scorer Cabore shamelessly engineered a big-money move to FC Tokyo while Popo, acting with considerably more honour than his compatriot, will also be in Japan next season with Kashiwa Reysol. Replacement coach Jo Kwang-rae is not one to get hearts racing near the south coast and it could be a long hard season for the club. Key Player: Kim Jin-yong Coach: Jo Kwang-rae 12. Busan I’Park (13) The south coast has a new coach and the return of an old hero for the new season. The past two seasons have been fairly wretched for Busan but the appointment of 2002 World Cup star and South Korean legend Hwang Sun-hong made lots of headlines. One of the first things that the 39 year-old did was trade midfielder An Yong-hak for 2002 team-mate Ahn Jung-hwan. The Lord of the Ring made his name in Busan in the nineties and the former giant of Korean and Asian football needs some big performances from the aging attacker. Key Player: Ahn Jung-hwan Coach: Hwang Sun-hong 13. Daegu (12) Despite some good goalscoring performances from Luisinho and young Korean star Lee Keun-ho, Daegu struggled last season under new coach Byun Byung-joo. One half of the partnership has gone. The Brazilian was tempted to make the short journey to Ulsan and will be missed. The club have a history of finding reasonably good Brazilian imports and much depends as to the quality of this year’s batch – Alexandro and Joao Silva. Key Player: Lee Keun-ho Coach: Byun Byung-joo 14. Gwangju (14) What is there to say about the military club and perennial basement-dwellers? Any place above 14th is a bonus. That is more of a possibility this time round as South Korean goalkeeper Kim Yong-dae is now enlisted. It is tough for the army boys; half of the playing staff leaves every season and returns to their original club. Key Player: Kim Yong-dae Coach: Lee Kang-jo Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

It had to happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before one of the 2002 World Cup heroes took the reins of a K-League team. It is perhaps fitting that the man who scored the first goal in South Korea’s unforgettable run to the semi-finals of the world’s biggest sporting event is the first one to try his luck in the domestic league. Perhaps it is also fitting that the goal, which came against Poland in front of 55,000 delirious fans, was scored at Busan’s Asiad World Cup Stadium. For it is in that same cavernous arena where Hwang will start his coaching career with local team Busan I’Park. The 39 year-old has a tough challenge ahead. Large attendances are a rarity at the stadium these days as the club has struggled in recent years. Four-time champions Busan may be but the latest came in 1997 and the top has been slipping increasingly out of sight. 2007 saw the south coast team finish next to bottom. It is a long way back to the summit but Hwang, who played over 100 international appearances in a career that spanned 14 years, was the top scorer in Japan’s league in 1999 and played 18 months under Guus Hiddink, has a background that at least provides a well-placed base camp. On a snowy Seoul morning, I took the bullet train to the meet Hwang at Busan's clubouse in the north of the sprawling south coast city. You had a successful time in Japan. What did you learn from the J-League? Korean and Japan are rivals but their football styles have many differences. In the J-League, I remember feeling it was more technical and nice to watch. It’s hard to say which is better. Technically, the K-League needs to improve. In the end, good football is winning football. J-League teams are more likely to give the fans the kind of football they want. Japanese players don’t waste energy and can attack quickly with fast passing. Korean players’ strong point is speed and aggression and if they can match these qualities with the J-Leagues strengths then Korean football will develop more. How has the K-League changed since you retired? When I played there was almost no team using four at the back. It was all man-to-man marking and very rough. Now players are trying to play more advanced and European-style football. There are many teams that use man-to-man and zonal. Also, the stadium facilities improved a lot after the Word Cup; It looks like we are moving towards more technically developed football. Is it more difficult to score goals in Korea than Japan? I think it’s more difficult. When I played in Japan, J-League teams used three and four at the back. Defenders were less active than Korea and used less man-to-man marking so for me, the J-league was easier than the K-League. I don’t mean that the standard was lower, it was just the perfect situation for me as a striker. What was the biggest thing that Hiddink changed? I think it was ball possession. In the past we wasted our energy with unnecessary passes and chasing around after defenders. Hiddink stressed that we should keep the ball safely and try to gain control of the game. Even after five years, I still am influenced by that. Some people overseas say that Korea only reached the semi-finals with home advantage and favourable refereeing. What do you think about that? Of course, playing at home is an advantage but I don’t think the referees were biased. We got results through trying our best and lots of effort. We trained hard and worked hard. Compared to before, there was much more competition for places. We grew more confident that we could win and did so fairly and squarely. When the competition started did you really believe you could reach the semi-finals? No. Our first target was to win our first World Cup game. Our second target was to reach the second round. When we did so, that was success for us. I didn’t expect to reach the semi-final. How did you feel when you scored against Poland? I can’t explain. It was a goal I had waited so long for. It was a goal that had deep meaning for Korea. I can’t express the feeling. I was so happy. How did the 2002 World Cup change Korean football? First, with Hiddink in charge, we could get many games against top class opposition like Czech Republic, England and France. Through these tests, we learned that if we play a little more coolly and ruthlessly against the big teams that we would be OK.. That was a big benefit. What lessons do you feel Korean football has forgotten since then? That of team balance. Through training, we learned how to save our energy and reduce unnecessary effort. We learned how to play much more efficiently and effectively and how to achieve more with less energy. You scored goals everywhere you went. What was the secret to your success? I had a goalscoring instinct but I also studied a lot. Training is very important but even when I was taking it easy, I was always thinking about how to score goals. When I, or somebody else, scored, I would often watch the video and think about what had happened and why it had happened. Thinking about the game is the way to be a success. These days, players sometimes lack that. Can the goalscoring instinct be taught? Strikers are born with the difficult art of scoring goals but by trying hard, it can be developed. Of course, constant effort is needed. With study, thinking and awareness, you can’t suddenly have an instinct for goal but you can reduce the failure rate. With thorough preparation, you can increase your goalscoring rate. Why do Korean strikers struggle to score goals? Of course, it is a striker’s job to score goals but it is also a problem for the whole team. It is not the problem of one player but means that there are many things that need to be changed. For example, if long passes or crosses don’t improve in quality then it will become increasingly difficult to score. You spent a year in England recently –where? Reading. English teams don’t open their training to the public. Reading then had Seol Ki-hyeon and were generous to Koreans. As you know, the Premier League is very energetic and has lots of appeal for fans. Do Korean fans overrate the Premier League? Perhaps that is true. Objectively, the Premier league is the leader of world football but it doesn’t match the Korean situation well. Our fans also need to lose their prejudice that English football is the best and Korean football is nothing. What kind of coach will you be? Strict…? I don’t want to be that kind of coach. I want to be a rational coach. A family atmosphere is very important. As the coach has no experience, I don’t know if my methods are correct. But I want to make a team with one mind and one voice. More than having a team that is a high-pressure team, I would like a spontaneous team. If Busan players enjoyed late-night drinking sessions similar to some Korean players at the 2007 Asian Cup, how would you handle the situation? To maintain team discipline, I would carefully judge the situation and impose a heavy punishment. Of course, there is time for all of us to have a drink. But timing is important –during the season or the day before a game, then that situation would be a big problem. Did that happen during the 2002 World Cup? No, never. Why did you join Busan? Busan was a great team but recently results have been good. There hasn’t been much talent and the situation was tough. However, the club is trying to try for a new start and there have been many changes. I also feel that that it is a worthy challenge. What's the target for Busan in 2008? Last season Busan was 13th and found it tough to score. First of all, we need to increase our scoring capability. I especially have in mind our home form. If we can move up to the middle-ranking K-League teams then that will be a success. However, I don’t want to make too many plans at the moment. Is there money for new players? The club handles that side of things so I don’t know. At the moment, the level of players is satisfactory so there is no problem. How can you get more fans to come to the stadium? The most important things is through our performances. We need to strengthen our weak points. The fans are far from the pitch so we have a plan to install some seating right next to the pitch so they will be able to enjoy the action much more. So now we are ready to make a favourable situation for the fans and know we have play better and attract the fans to the stadium. Would you like to move? To Gudeok Stadium for example? I really hope that we could have our own stadium. It is my fervent desire that Busan will be able to play games in front of more fans in the future. We will try little by little. First, we installed seats by the pitch so at the moment it’s unreasonable to move to Gudeok. Actually we looked into moving back to Gudeok but as it’s such a complicated problem, we decided to keep using Asiad Stadium. What advice have you received from your fellow coaches? They all advised me not too hurry. I am a new coach so there will be times when your plans and the reality is different, so don’t put pressure on yourself. When you are under pressure, many kinds of problems can occur and you need to think wisely. I heard that many times. Is trading Ahn Yong-hak for Ahn Jung-hwan a fair one? Ahn Yong-hak is a good player and I don’t need to tell you about Ahn Jung-hwan. Last season, Busan conceded 39 goals and scored just 20. So we have to increase our firepower. I am very positive about the transfer of Ahn Jung-hwan. Can Ahn score goals here? He didn’t at Suwon. Busan is much better for Ahn than Suwon. There is less mental pressure on Ahn at Busan. From now, the important thing is the players desire. I totally believe in the whole of the team, not only Ahn Jung-hwan. If he returns to peak condition then he can score more goals here than he did at Suwon. As you are a former striker, can you help Ahn? That’s right. But Busan is not just for Ahn Jung-hwan so it’s hard to focus on him but after training, I will help him if I can. As his senior, we can talk and I can advise him about technique. I have played with Ahn Jung-hwan and I know what his game lacks and his weak point. There has been a lot of press attention focused on you and Ahn. Are you worried about that? It has not been easy. If there are big expectations then isn’t there a big chance of disappointment? Excessive expectations can put pressure on me, Ahn and the other players. But we are professionals. It is not just about Ahn and me, the whole team team needs to know how to react positively to pressure and tension. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

It’s hard to get excited about any Olympic qualifier and a home game against Uzbekistan certainly wasn’t one to send pulses racing just south of the 38th Parallel. South Korea had already defeated the Central Asians in the second round of qualifying in March then went on to complete the double in Tashkent in April. If that wasn’t enough, the senior teams met in Seoul for a pre-Asian Cup friendly in July with another victory for the hosts. At the end of a hard-fought game, Korea made it four wins out of four to get off to a winning start in the final round of qualifying and with the rest of Group B comprising of Bahrain and Syria, Beijing is becoming ever more visible just across the murky Yellow Sea.

“It is very strange to me.” So says Busan I’Park’s Coach Andy Egli a number of times as he relaxes overlooking Haeundae Beach, one of South Korea’s most popular tourist spots. The well-dressed Swiss boss has been on the south coast since July 2006 and while he has settled into life in Korea’s second city with the minimum of fuss, there are still a number of aspects that make him shake his head, laugh or both.