“Seongnam are the second strongest team in the league but we are the strongest,” said Pohang Steelers boss Sergio Farias after his team defeated the K-League leaders 2-1 last Saturday. The Brazilian is exaggerating his team’s abilities but at the moment in Korea, just as the weather finally settles into seasonable temperatures, the football scene has gone haywire. How else can you explain Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ 5-2 thrashing of Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the once-feared Big Bird Stadium? Earlier in the season, Suwon couldn’t stop winning and the Motors couldn’t start. Now the Jeonju club collected three successive wins; Suwon have lost five of their last seven. For the Jeonju-based team, the fried egg on the bi-bim-bap was the five star showing in Suwon, after the meeting between the two earlier in the season had been a bad-tempered one. In May, the Gyeonngi team went to Jeonju to win 2-1 with the last kick of the game. By that 94th minute, emotions were running high after Jeonbuk striker Cho Jae-jin scored and then, in the view of the Suwon fans, celebrated provocatively in front of the massed blue ranks. Cho told them he was only following what Suwon’s Seo Dong-hyun had done earlier in the game. Suwon fans told him that they would ‘see him at the Big Bird’. They came, they saw but Cho conquered. The much-maligned male model was roundly booed and jeered on his return to Gyeonggi but he quickly made the catcalls stick in blue craws. Cho put Jeonbuk ahead and although Suwon soon equalized, four goals from the men in green in ten second half minutes stunned the home fans and kept the visitors’ hopes of a place in the top six and entry to the championship play-off series alive. It was also the most goals that Suwon goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae has ever conceded in a single match. “I expected it,” smiled Cho after the game, not referring to the 5-2 scoreline of course but the reception from the home fans. “It didn’t bother me. I was just focused on the game. In fact, it motivated me to do better.” The feeling of defeat is becoming increasingly familiar for Blues boss Cha Bum-keun. “Our condition is poor,” said the legend of Korean soccer. “We have many injuries but most importantly because of results, the atmosphere around the team is bad.” It certainly is. A comprehensive 3-1 defeat at Jeju United the week previously and a 5-2 thrashing at home at the hands of another mid-table team leaves Suwon’s season in danger of meltdown. It is a big test for coach Cha, one known for buying good players but his ability to build a team is not quite so respected. Runs like the current one happen and are never easy for a coach to break. The defeat sent Suwon, so long the leaders, down into third place and looking over a shoulder at the approaching Ulsan in fourth. It is FC Seoul that are the ones to watch. The capital club are unbeaten for 15 league matches and brushed aside Chunnam Dragons 3-0 on Sunday to move above Suwon but below Seongnam. It wasn’t the best of performances for the hosts but confidence is coursing through the veins of the players and with Dejan Damjanovic in great form in attack, Seoul are looking good at a good time. With Ulsan and Pohang looking fairly safe in fourth and fifth, a number of clubs are chasing the sixth and final play-off spot with all the fervour of a tired Seoul salaryman eyeing a free subway seat in the evening rush hour. The Uniteds of Jeju and Incheon are in there fighting along with Gyeongnam FC, a resurgent Jeonbuk and an unpredictable Daegu. The play-off system has its critics but there is no denying that at this stage of the season, it provides a fascinating sideshow to the increasingly fierce race at the top. 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

The 2008 season so far has been all about Suwon Samsung Bluewings. The Gyeonggi giants started well and haven’t looked back. If they were to take a peek over their shoulders after eight games, they would see a chasing pack that was getting ever smaller. Seven wins and one draw from eight games tell its own story. Only usual title rivals Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma have taken any points from the blue machine. Suwon are still to show they can play sustained high quality football and really dominate teams but they have amply demonstrated that they have the players capable of conjuring goals from nothing. Starting from the rock of defence and set piece menace Mato Neretljak and spreading throughout midfield and attack, there is a real goal threat in the Suwon team, one that has yet to score less than two goals in 2008. It is the forwards who have really impressed however. Seo Dong-hyun and Shin Young-rok have finally emerged from the shadows to show that they can score at the top level. Suwon’s latest win came courtesy of a last-minute goal at the home of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in front of over 33,000 fans at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. It was a bitter blow for the hosts who are having a dreadful season. While few may be surprised at the Bluewings position at the top of the perch, nobody expected to see Jeonbuk at the bottom. The 2006 Asian Champions have never really performed well in the league in the past but 2008 was supposed to be different. Macedonian marksman Stevica Ristic scored for fun in 2007 and with the addition of national team star Cho Jae-jin, supported by the talented Chung Kyung-ho and Kim Hyeung-beom, goals were expected to flow. Cho, who spent three prolific seasons in Japan with Shimizu S-Pulse, has managed to find the net on a few occasions but only one win has followed. Even with the top six teams progressing to the play-offs, that dotted line is advancing ever more into the distance. Northern teams make up the top four with Seongnam, Seoul and Incheon following Suwon. Seoul look to be much more dangerous in attack but weaker at the back this season. Last weekend’s clash at Chunnam Dragons would never usually be one to get the pulses racing and it was goalless at half-time. The second half was thrilling with six goals and a whole host of chances missed. Seoul host Incheon in round nine. After a slow start, champions Pohang Steelers are in fifth and looked impressive in round eight when condemning Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma to their first defeat of the season. Wing-backs Choi Hyo-jin and Park Won-jae were in especially good form. Both players could find themselves selected in the national team squad for May and June’s World Cup qualifiers. Deagu is a city famous for apples and pretty girls but is fast becoming a place to see goals. While Incheon United striker Dzenan Radoncic helped himself to a hat-trick, the first player in the club’s history to do so, in the team's recent 4-2 win, there have been a good number of very good strikes from the home team, especially from Jang Nam–seok and Lee Keun-ho. Such attacking prowess has seen the team climb into the top half of the table, along with the less exciting Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I. At the bottom, it is a familiar old story – almost. Perennial cellar-dwellars Gwangju Sangmu are enjoying the dizzy heights of mid-table, helped by the excellent form of Kim Myung-joong, and the military outfit is looking down with interest at the Busan I’Park, Jeju United and Daejeon Citizen –teams all struggling alone with Jeonbuk at the foot of the table. 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

“This is like deja vu all over again”, said baseball legend Yogi Berra once upon a time. A quick glance at the top of the current K-league table certainly brings a host of memories flooding back for football fans around the nation. Suwon Samsung Bluewings are in first place after winning four and drawing one of the five games so far. That single blemish came when Suwon faced old rivals Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma earlier in the season. Seongnam are now in second. The two Gyeonggi Province teams spent all of 2007 fighting at the top and are once again out on their own. Last weekend certainly brought back some bad memories for FC Seoul. Watched by more than 44,000 fans in the capital, the club once again saw an early-season good start ended by Suwon. Last April, the 1-0 defeat inflicted by the Bluewings stopped the Seoul season dead in its tracks. It remains to be seen how the 2-0 defeat on Sunday affects Senol Gunes and his players. Those players were unlucky as they controlled much of the match against Suwon. Especially in the first half, a number of chances came Seoul’s way and they all went begging. Dejan Damjanovic, Jung Jo-gook, Park Chu-young and Lee Chung-yong all could have done better. While Seoul’s superiority was real, it was also fragile. As poor as Suwon looked in the first half, the team, roared on by thousands of travelling fans, still carried an air of sleepy menace and a constant threat that Seoul would be made to pay for its profligacy. That is exactly what happened six minutes into the second half. Young striker Shin Young-rok let fly from 25 meters more in hope than expectation and somehow Seoul goalkeeper Kim Ho-jun let the ball soar over him to send the massed ranks of Suwon supporters behind the net into raptures. Those fantastic fans were celebrating once again 11 minutes later as young Shin fired a low shot into the net from the edge of the area and it was as good as game over. “This is a game that we really should have won, but the result was a defeat. We just didn’t take our chances” said Seoul coach Senol Gunes after the match. “It sounds like an excuse but I can’t blame my players as it was a good performance.” His opposite number Cha Bum-keun couldn’t stop smiling. “The first half was really tough for us but we recovered well. Our defence held firm so we there were opportunities for us in the second half.” Not too far to the west, Incheon United was suffering the same fate as Seoul – a 2-0 home loss ending an unbeaten start to the season. Seongnam’s Brazilian duo of Mota and Dudu did the damage for the seven-time champions who are now on the coat-tails of the Bluewings. Now Suwon and Seongnam have positioned themselves at the front of the pack, it remains to be seen if they break away in much the same fashion as 2007. It certainly is possible as the two teams look to be a level above their competitors. Before the season started, it was expected that those competitors would include Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors but the 2006 Asian champions have had a shocking start. The signing of international striker Cho Jae-jin was supposed to push the Jeonju team into the upper echelons of the table but the team is in last with four defeats in five matches. The latest was a 3-0 home setback at the hands of a stylish Daegu FC. Champions Pohang Steelers are also struggling with just one win so far this season. Perhaps it is at the bottom of the table where we will see some surprises in 2008 because at the top, it is the same old story. 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

So far, so good. The 2008 K-League is only two games old but it has already hinted at a fascinating season to come. The weather is warming, attendances are healthy, stars new and old are shining and the best part of all is that there are still another eight months to go. It is unlikely that Incheon United will still be top of the table in November but the west coast club is the only one of the 14 that boasts a 100% record. Incheon won 2-0 at Jeju United on the opening weekend and then managed to beat Chunnam Dragons 1-0 on Sunday with a goal after just 41 seconds. Over the next 89 minutes or so, the Dragons, defeated 2-0 by Melbourne Victory in midweek in the Asian Champions League and then 4-3 by Gamba Osaka, managed to miss a whole host of chances. It just wasn’t their day. With the league taking a break due to the small matter of a March 26 World Cup qualifier against North Korea in Shanghai, Incheon can enjoy the rest of the month safely perched on the top rung of the ladder. The club is the only one in Korea that consistently makes a profit and it is a friendly one. Selling stars such as Dejan Damjanovic help the books balance but even the new FC Seoul striker was in the club’s office after the game on Sunday, smiling and joking with staff. The Serbian had plenty to smile about. He had opened his account for his new club the previous day at the Jeonju home of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Also scoring a first for a new club was South Korean international Cho Jae-jin. The impressive Cho equalized for Jeonbuk only to see his rival for the national team striking spot Park Chu-young net a late winner to give Seoul the three points. The Motors, tipped by many, including this writer, to be in for a good season, have stalled at the start line and are looking for a first point, just like Jeolla Province rivals Chunnam. Unlike the Dragons, Jeonbuk doesn’t have injuries and Asian travels to use as excuses. The team in green has the talent to move up a gear and up the table but two games and two defeats against Busan and Seoul, not the league’s toughest opponents, is a worry. Champions Pohang Steelers are discovering that defending the title brings different kinds of pressures. The south-easterners were, like Chunnam, defeated by Australian opposition in the Asian Champions League last week. That loss at home to Adelaide was followed by an equally painful 3-0 lesson doled out by Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I on Saturday. What of the two title favorites? Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Suwon Samsung Bluewings met in round two, the first big game of the season. The result was an exciting 2-2 draw and a confirmation that both teams will again be setting the standard over the next few months. The draw was Seongnam’s second this season. Suwon, inspired by the talented Lee Kwan-woo who scored two stunning goals, perhaps have a little more reason to be looking forward to the months ahead with confidence. Perennial wooden-spoon winner Gwangju Sangmu is in nose-bleed territory with four points from two games. The first was a creditable 1-1 draw with Seongnam and the second a nice 2-0 win over a Gyeongnam club still struggling to come to terms with the pre-season loss of coach, top scorer and playmaker. The Ahn Jung-hwan effect hasn’t yet kicked in at Busan I’Park but the south coast club has started reasonably well. There is still a long way to go but things are shaping up nicely. 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

As first squads go, it is an important one. New national team coach Huh Jung-moo has no room for error as he prepares to guide South Korea along the road to the 2010 World Cup – starting against Turkmenistan on Seoul on February 6. That will be the first of what will hopefully be 14 World Cup qualifiers and, while the Turkmen shouldn’t be underestimated – the team is physically strong with a number of players plying their trade in the Russian and Ukrainian leagues – it is as comfortable an opener as Huh could have wished for after being appointed to the position in December. There were a few surprises in the 26-strong squad that the former Chunnam Dragons coach named on a freezing Thursday morning in Seoul but there was never any chance of the three eligible English Premier Leaguers – Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham and Fulham’s Seol Ki-hyeon - not being summoned. The trio will not play in a fairly low-key friendly game against Chile on January 30 but they will be back in the Land of the Morning Calm fairly soon after. Huh is looking to build his team, and his likely 3-5-2 formation - a change from Pim Verbeek’s preferred 4-3-3 - around the lively Park. “There will be a lot of new faces in the national team, and we believe that the experience and skills of the foreign-based players will offer a great help for the younger players,'' he said. ``The players in Europe have already proven their abilities.'' Lee Dong-guk is the fourth Premier League star but is still suffering from the effects of two late-night drinking sessions that took place during the Asian Cup in Jakarta last July -not even soju creates such a hangover. The Middlesbrough striker and his three booze buddies, Lee Woon-jae, Kim Sang-sik and Woo Sung-young have been banned from national team duty until the end of the year. The Lion King has enough on his mind as he tries to save his Middlesbrough career that has yet to produce a league goal. Striking rival Cho Jae-jin is also in England, trying to engineer a move into the world’s most popular and most lucrative league. Spare a thought for the muscular marksman whose moody modeling expressions may soon become a permanent feature. This was supposed to be his time. His three, very successful years, in Japan came to an end in December. A free agent and available on a free transfer, surely one of Korea’s top strikers wouldn’t be short of offers? There was interest. Cho, 26, went to Newcastle United for a trial and was reportedly on the verge of being offered a deal just as coach Sam Allardyce was fired by the club‘s owner after a run of mediocre performances. His north-eastern hopes dashed, Cho headed to the south coast and Portsmouth just as that club’s boss, Harry Redknapp, was being courted by Newcastle to become their new coach.According to reports in Korea, Cho was left dangling as Redknapp never saw the player as he took a couple of days to think over Newcastle’s offer before. Cho came back to Korea but was then soon scuttling westwards again for a final throw of the dice at Premier League strugglers Fulham. Despite encouraging words from Roy Hodgson, that deal too, looks to have hit a brick wall. Whatever happens, Cho and anybody else who doesn’t currently have a club, will not be selected by Huh. Midfielder Kim Jung-woo provides another example of that. Ahn Jung-hwan was also excluded but has since joined Busan IPark. Huh decided to choose four strikers –two of which, Park Chu-young and Jung Jo-gook, barely managed to find the net for goal-shy FC Seoul last season and while Huh knows that such an affliction is hardly contained to the capital, he is sure that, with time, goals will be in plentiful supply. “We can’t solve the goalscoring problems overnight, it has been a long-standing problem," he admitted. "For a short time, it will be hard to improve but as the players have promised to cooperate, we can overcome this problem. Through repeated training and set piece plays, we aim to improve our goalscoring abilities.” We will soon see. South Korea squad: GK--Kim Byung-ji (FC Seoul) Jung Sung-ryong (Pohang) Yeom Dong-gyun ( Chunnam) DF--Kwak Tae-hwi (Chunnam) Kwak Hee-ju (Suwon) Hwang Jae-won, Jo Sung-hwan ( both Pohang) Jo Yong-hyung (Seongnam) Kang Min-soo (Jeonbuk) Jo Won-hee (Suwon) Kim Chi-woo (Jeonnam) Lee Young-pyo (Tottenham, England) Park Won-jae (Pohang) MF--Lee Jong-min (Ulsan) Kim Nam-il (Vissel Kobe) Kim Du-hyeon (Seongnam) Yeom Ki-hoon (Ulsan) Park Ji-sung (Manchester Utd, England) Lee Dong-sik (Jeju) Lee Kwan-woo (Suwon) Hwang Ji-soo (Pohang) Koo Ja-cheol (Jeju) FW--Seol Ki-hyeon (Fulham, England) Jung Jo-guk (FC Seoul) Jo Jin-soo (Jeju ) Park Ju-young (FC Seoul) 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

For some time now, England’s Premier League has been regarded as football’s Promised Land for those in the K-league and the exodus westwards shows little sign of letting up during January’s transfer window – the last opportunity for clubs to buy and sell players until the end of the season. At the end of 2007, all four English Taeguk Warriors were active in the league –finally. On the day after Christmas, bumper holiday crowds witnessed the unusual sight of the entire quartet clocking up minutes on the pitch - Park Ji-sung returned from a nine-month injury lay-off for Manchester United, Lee Dong-guk tried to score his first goal for Middlesbrough, Seol Ki-hyeon made a rare start for Fulham and Lee Young-pyo completed another 90 minutes in Tottenham’s colours. The fluctuating fortunes of Korea’s fantastic four haven’t deterred eager compatriots from trying to join them in the world’s richest league. Cho Jae-jin looks likely to make it a famous five. The Little Emperor has long desired to move from Japan to England. After three successful years with Shimizu S-Pulse, the muscular striker is a free agent and England-bound. The process hasn’t been entirely smooth. Cho’s agent told reporters that four English clubs had expressed serious interest. Newcastle United was top of Cho’s list but after the Korean media had declared that the deal was done, the troubled Tyneside team told the English press that: "The club has had discussions with the player and his representatives, but has decided not to proceed any further." Cho moved from the north-east to the south coast and started talking to Portsmouth at the end of last week. The 26 year-old could provide valuable cover for the club which will lose a number of players in January to the African Nations’ Cup. Seongnam’s Kim Do-heon could also be on his way to the Premier League to join Derby County or West Bromich Albion of the championship. The championship is England’s second tier but WBA is in with a great chance of winning promotion to the Premier League in time for the start of next season. The club’s coach Tony Mowbray is still unsure whether he will sign the midfielder but at least he is getting first hand experience of dealing with Korean agents. "The agent is trying to get across that Kim is a big star in Korea,” Mowbray told his local newspaper. “There are thousands of people at his wedding, it's front page news over there so he's sent me the pictures to make sure I'm aware of it. "What they don't always do is work out the time difference very well…I was trying to deal with somebody who is living in Korea and phoning me at strange times.” Strange times indeed and it is not just senior international player that have been heading west to show what they can do. Captain of the Under-17 team, Yoon Bitgaram had a trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers and could become part of the team’s youth program. This will involve a stint in Belgium with Blackburn’s ‘feeder club’ Cercle Brugge. And all that’s within the first week of the window and while nobody has squeezed through just yet, it is only a matter of time. It will be a busy month. 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

59 year-old Dutchman Sef Vergoosen is enjoying his second season with J-League club Nagoya Grampus Eight. How did you end up in Japan? It was very strange. In 2005, I was in the United Arab Emirates coaching Abui Dhabi team Al-Jazeera. Two years ago in the Netherlands there was the Under-20 World Championship and somebody called me from Japan to ask me if I was going to watch the game between Japan and the Netherlands. I said ‘yes’ and he asked to meet me. I met him and at that time he was the club manager of Nagoya Grampus Eight but we didn’t really speak about the club. Some months later, I was back in Abu Dhabi and he called me to say that he was in Dubai and he came to see one of our games. After the game we spoke and he asked me if I was interested in going to Grampus Eight because the club was looking for a new coach.