The turn of the year has seen the transfer market in the K-League gather momentum. Players and coaches have returned from their end of season vacations and teams are starting their winter training camps. The first week of 2012 saw two big deals involving midfielders who may not be quite automatic starters for the national team but are never too far from the first eleven. That is certainly the case for Kim Jung-woo. The 29 year-old was a feature of the 2010 World Cup when the Taeguk Warriors made the second round in South Africa and has scored his sixth goal for the national team in Korea’s 6-0 win over Lebanon in qualification for the 2014 World Cup in September. Kim has spent the last two seasons with Gwangju and then Sangju Sangmu, the league’s military team. He was one of the stars of the 2011 season, scoring 15 goals for a team that usually struggles. His return to Seongnam Ilhwa coincided with the end of his contract. Kim was perhaps the most highly sought after Korean player of the close season and was on the wishlist of a number of clubs but ended up with Jeonbuk Motors. “I am overjoyed to join Jeonbuk, last year’s K-League winners and one of the most distinguished clubs in Asia” he said. “I will do my best to meet expectations and do my best for the image of Jeonbuk,” said the 29-year-old. “I have experience playing with (Jeonbuk’s) Lee Dong-gook and Kim Sang-sik at Seongnam. I think we will able to play well if we adjust together through communication. I have many good memories with the two at Seongnam.” Seongnam fans will be consoled by the fact that the club has shelled out not far shy of $2 million to add Yoon Bitgaram to their squad. The midfielder is 21 and has already made 13 appearances for the national team. Glasgow Rangers had bid around $1.3 million for Yoon, who captained Korea’s team at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup and then spent a few weeks with Blackburn Rovers in England, but his club Gyeongnam preferred to sell him to Seongnam for a greater fee. "We have signed Yoon Bitgaram to be part of our challenge to win the K-League and the 2012 AFC Champions League," Seongnam said in a statement. "Naturally, he will strengthen the team and help us increase our fan base." Suwon Bluewings go through players at an alarming rate and have also been busy in the past weeks. The club said goodbye (again) to talismanic defender Mato Neretljak and replaced the tall Croatian with the even taller Australian in the shape of Eddy Bosnar. Bosnar has spent the last four plus seasons in Japan with JEF United and Shimizu S-Pulse. Like Neretljak, he takes a mean free-kick but it remains to be seen if he can become as big a favourite with the fans. If he can’t be the new MAto, he’s hoping he can be the new Sasa Ognenovski who fought his way into the Australian national team after impressing in Korea for Seongnam. "If the move goes ahead I think it gives me a good chance of getting back in the Socceroos picture," said Bosnar. "The facilities at Suwon are better than anything I have seen in Japan and it would give me a chance to play at a higher level." Pohang Steelers have also been shopping overseas following the departure of Brazilian star Mota but have been doing business in Eastern Europe. Hwang Sun-hong led the team to second in the K-League in 2011 He has picked up former Romanian international Ianis Zicu and ex-Serbian U-21 defender Zoran Rendulic. Zicu arrives from CSKA Sofia and has experience in Serie A with Parma while the big defender Rendulic has played in Austria and France. “Zicu doesn’t just have UEFA Champions League and Romanian national team experience, we expect him to become an important part of our attack,” Hwang said. “Rendulic isn’t just a great defender, he can prove useful in attack too.” “I wanted a new challenge so I decided to come to Pohang,” said Zicu. “I know that Pohang are Asia’s most prestigious team and I want to help the club challenge in the AFC Champions League again.” 2010 champions FC Seoul have been fairly quiet so far but it likely to change over the coming weeks while Ulsan Horangi, who made the final of the championship play-offs are also in the market for new players after losing out jeonbuk in the race for Kim. Tags Euro 2012 football

It didn’t come as a surprise. Jeonbuk Motors led the K-league from early in the season and were the best team for most of it. Choi Kang-hee’s men should have won the Asian title too but had to make do with the domestic title to add to the 2009 crown. The inevitable came to pass on December 4 in the second leg of the Championship play-off final against Ulsan Horangi . Jeonbuk won the away leg 2-1 and then, despite falling a goal behind at home, recovered to take the return match by the same scoreline in front of a big crowd, which took the league past the three million mark for the season. Even stony-faced Choi Kang-hee managed a smile during the celebrations after which he told reporters that he felt now that Jeonbuk had become a big club. He is right. Until their 2006 Asian title, the Jeonju outfit had never been a serious contender but is now one of the best in Korea and the continent at large. Striker Lee Dong-guk didn’t get on the score sheet and even missed a penalty (Ulsan conceded five in five play-off matches but only two were scored) but had already done enough to be overwhelmingly voted in as the 2011 K-League MVP almost exactly 48 hours after lifting the trophy. Jeonbuk are not a team full of internationals, Korean squads come and go with barely a name in it from the champions, but coach Choi knows all about winning in the K-League. He rarely smiles but he often wins. Well-organised, tough but with players who can really play, the champions have been formidable. Ulsan finished sixth in the regular standings after a fairly mediocre campaign. The team saved their best for the play-offs, deservedly beating FC Seoul in the opening game and then squeezing past Suwon Bluewings and Pohang Steelers to get the shot at Jeonbuk and the title. Pohang finished second in the league but didn’t get too much reward for a solid first season under Hwang Sun-hong. The team was never really in danger of losing second spot but, for a thrilling 3-2 win over Jeonbuk aside, rarely threatened to occupy the summit. Big boys FC Seoul and Suwon both had disappointing starts to the season. Seoul lost coach Hwangbo Kwan and while caretaker Choi Yong-soo stepped in to steady the ship, he struggled to produce the goods in the games when it mattered. Montenegrin marksman Dejan Damjanovic had another season to remember however, scoring 22 goals, an impressive tally and six more than the next in the charts – Lee Dong-guk. Suwon’s season took a turn for the better with the summer signing of Stevica Ristic. The muscular Macedonian scored for fun and sent the Bluewings soaring into the play-offs. He never appeared in the loss against Ulsan however as he had to serve a six-game suspension handed out by the AFC. His part in the mass brawl against Al Sadd in the semi-final of the 2011 Asian Champions League was worst than most but the punishment seemed excessive. It was an unlucky season for Suwon. A controversial goal knocked the team out of the Asian Champions League, the same happened in the final of the FA Cup and they were eliminated from the play-offs after a penalty shootout. The surprise package of the season were Busan I’Park . Ahn Ik-soo was in his first season as coach and after an indifferent start led the team into fifth helped by talented attackers such as Park Hee-do and Yang Dong-hyun. Park has already left for Seoul and the problem for Busan over the coming months is going to be keeping hold of their best players when the bigger boys come calling. Seongnam Ilhwa started the season as Asian champs and ended it by winning the FA Cup to book a place in the 2012 version. Not much in between was good as the team without sold stars such as Mauricio Molina and Jung Sung-ryong struggled but coach Shin Tae-yong is hopeful of a return to form both at home and overseas for Korea’s most successful team. Gyeongnam FC almost made the play-offs but failed at the end. Their season was disrupted by the sale of star striker Lucio to Ulsan in the summer and the sale of star midfielder Yoon Bitgaram to Seongnam as soon as the season ended, despite interest from Glasgow Rangers suggests that the future may not be so bright. Chunnam Dragons also just missed out and the day after it all finished, coach Jung Hae-sung handed in his notice but was persuaded to stay on by the club. Also in Jeolla Province, Gwangju FC had a reasonable first season and finished in 11th with Lee Sung-ki impressing in midfield, so much so that he was named Rookie of the Year. Last season’s runners-up Jeju United ended in ninth after a disappointing season. Then there are the strugglers. Daegu FC, Daejeon Citizen and Sangju Sangmu spent the season in the lower reaches of the standings along usual mid-table team Incheon United. . Gangwon FC failed to score for the first four matches, setting the scene for a pretty dire season. The season was dominated however not by Jeonbuk or anyone else for that matter but match-fixing. Rumours have abounded for some time but the scale of the practice surprised everyone with around 60 players, some still playing others not, prosecuted and all banned from football from various numbers of years and sometimes life. It was all a bit depressing but some good could come out of it if the K-league sticks to its guns and launches a more professional version of Asia’s oldest professional league. Relegation is coming in 2012 for the first time though it has yet to be confirmed just how many teams will drop through the trapdoor. Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

The story of another South Korea star’s adventures in Europe started last weekend as Ki Sung-yong made a first appearance in the famous green-and-white hooped shirt of Celtic. The 20 year-old played the full 90 minutes on Saturday as his new team drew 1-1 with Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League. It was a disappointing performance from the Bhoys but a promising debut from Ki who was impressed with his free-kick skills and was named Man of the Match. After agreeing to join the famous Scottish club last summer, Ki, had to wait until the end of the year to join his new team as he played out the rest of the K-League season with FC Seoul. Now he is ready to help the 1967 European champions recapture the Scottish title from Glasgow rivals Rangers. Ki has already impressed off the pitch with his fluent English and pleased journalists, players and supporters alike by coming up with a more familiar first name. "I spent some time in Australia and there my friends called me David as it's difficult for some to pronounce my name,” he told the local media upon arrival. “If that helps make it easier, it’s fine with me. Communication is so important if players are to be comfortable with each other." Those years spent in high school in Brisbane may have helped his English skills but life on the Gold Coast is a far cry from that in Glasgow. Ki got a taste of that in his first full week in the UK with severe snowstorms and cold weather bringing the country and soccer to a halt and delaying his debut for the club. That wouldn’t have bothered him too much, Seoul is colder than Scotland in the winter months and the classy youngster has a perfect attitude to match his skills. Already a regular in the Korean team, Ki has been one of the hottest properties in Asia for the past two years or so since he broke into the ranks at FC Seoul. He quickly became one of the nation’s biggest stars and the fact that he is tall and handsome didn’t do him any harm. Now he has the challenge of charming the legions of Celtic fans that fill Parkhead, the club’s famous 60,000 capacity stadium, on a regular basis. Despite such numbers, Scottish football is in the doldrums these days with the two big clubs, Celtic, and city rivals Rangers, a little less flush with cash than in the past and with the rest of the league unable to compete regardless, many eyes will be on Ki, the 2009 Young Asian Player of the Year, to lift the profile of the Scottish scene. "In signing Ki, we are sure we will welcome a whole new audience to Celtic," Celtic Chief executive Peter Lawwell said recently in Seoul. "This (creating new audiences) is something which proved very successful through the signing of players such as Shunsuke Nakamura previously and we are sure Scottish football will again benefit through this signing. In difficult economic times for Scottish football, we are delighted to make this commitment and bring Ki to Scotland." Nakamura arrived in Scotland in 2005 and spent four years there. The Japanese playmaker was a big hit with the fans and the coach. Before leaving for Spain in the summer of 2009, he certainly helped raise Celtic’s profile in Japan and Asia but Ki has warned fans that he is not a ‘Naka Mark II’ but is more similar to a certain all-action Liverpool and England midfielder. “People will be expecting me to be the new Nakamura, but I'm not. He was a wonderful player and really gifted technically, but that's not the style I play. I'm younger, faster and stronger. In South Korea people compare me to Steven Gerrard, and I'll admit that's who I've based my game on." "But Gerrard is one of the best and most recognized midfielders in the world. At the moment I'm not, but that's what I want to become.” Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags Soccer News football

South Korean clubs teams don’t change coaches at the drop of a hat and usually wait until the season ends before taking a look at how their man in the hotseat has done. Sackings are rare, coaches tend to leave as contracts end or better offers come along. This off-season period is a little unusual however as three of the four clubs that were under overseas stewardship last season will have a new coach when the 2010 K-League season kicks off at the end of February. Only Incheon United will have the same foreign face in 2010. Serbian Ilja Petkovic was rewarded for taking the West Coast club into the championship play-off series in 2009, his first season in Korea, by being offered a new one-year contract. FC Seoul, Pohang Steelers and Jeju United have all seen their coaches head out of South Korea. The biggest story and the biggest shock has been the convoluted departure of Sergio Farias from Pohang. The Brazilian led the team to the 2007 K-League title and then, famously, the 2009 Asian crown. Such success naturally attracts covetous eyes. In December, reports started to surface that suggested he was talking to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli. “It is ridiculous that they publish something which is not true,” Farias replied when asked about the rumours. "Teams from West Asia tend to say things before checking all the facts just to show off. This kind of behavior should be avoided." Pohang CEO Kim Tae-man also dimissed the reports. “Farias is now famous so these kinds of rumours are common,” said Kim. “I know him personally and I don’t need to even ask him about it because it is not an issue.” It soon became one as Farias signed an 18-month deal with the Jeddah club worth a reported $2.5 million. That dwarfed his Pohang pay and despite the manner of his leaving, his five years and success in Korea meant that Farias left with good wishes. Pohang openly talked of their desire for another Brazilian coach and hired Waldemar Lemos de Oliveira, a 55 year-old with experience coaching in Japan and Saudi Arabia as well as his native Brazil. He has signed a one-year deal at his new club and will join them with immediate effect. "He has lots of experience with big clubs in Brazil and he has also worked in the Asian region, and he is able to get the players working together well as a unit," Kim Tae-Min said. "Most of all, however, he showed a good understanding of Pohang Steelers and what we are about. He likes to play fast and attractive football that excites the fans and wants to win respect from other teams through beautiful and clean football." Oliviera will be able to communicate easily with the new boss at FC Seoul. Nelo Vingada hails from Portugal but has coached all over the world. He replaces Senol Gunes who returned to Turkey in December as his three-year contract with Seoul expired. It is not the most inspiring choice for Seoul fans. Gunes was named FIFA’s coach of the year in 2002 as he took an unheralded Turkey team into third place at the World Cup. Vingada’s list of jobs may be lengthier but doesn’t carry the same weight. His last national team position was with Jordan. "I'm very happy to be here. My feelings are very optimistic," Vingada told local media as he arrived. "I believe that by training hard, as a team, as a family, we will achieve what everybody wants." The 56 year-old, who won the Egyptian title with Zamalek, aims to do the same for FC Seoul. "My challenge, the challenge of the team, the challenge I want to bring to the players, is to make first (place)," he said. "It's a new year, a new time, so when we start our training, we will have my new ideas and the support of the staff. I want to see FC Seoul on the list of winners of the K-League. I am here for this challenge." Jeju United parted company with Brazil’s Artur Bernandes after a fairly unspectacular two seasons and the club has decided not to follow the example set by Seoul and Pohang. A Korean has been appointed in the shape of former national team Under-17 and Under-23 Park Kyung-Hoon.There is less pressure on Park. Pohang and Seoul are expected to battle for the title. For Jeju, a mid-table ranking will suffice. For the new boys, now is the time for some pre-season training in warmer climes, not there are many of those around at the moment, but the real heat comes with the kick-off of the 2010 K-League season. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags Soccer News football

It was a shame that snow and ice caused Bolton Wanderers’ match with Wigan Athletic to be postponed earlier this week as Lee Chung-yong is currently red hot in his white shirt. His team-mates call him ‘Chungy’ which may cause a few pained expressions back home but the overwhelming emotion in South Korea at Lee’s English exploits is excitement. The 21 year-old winger left FC Seoul in the summer to sign for Premier League club Bolton Wanderers. The team has struggled in the first half of the league campaign though there are signs that a corner is being turned. Amid the gloom just north of Manchester, the young Korean star has been a fairly constant bright spot. Lee has scored three goals for the Whites and created more for others. His exciting skills, a willingness to run at defenders and his all round attitude and hard-work mean that Bolton fans have taken the Asian into their hearts. Nobody at home doubted his ability. In the space of two short years he had become probably the most exciting talent in the K-League and established himself in the national team at an unusually young age. The only black mark against his Korean career was the fact that he occasionally lost his cool on the pitch. His lack of years was a mitigating factor but his immaturity suggested that a struggle to adapt to life off the field in the north-west of England. His slight frame also suggested that he may not be able to handle the rough-and-tumble on it. So far it has not been a problem. Lee’s speed and quick feet often leave bigger opponents floundering in his wake and he is really starting to enjoy his football. In mid-December, the former FC Seoul star grabbed his third of the season as Bolton defeated relegation rivals West Ham 3-1. With the scoreline deadlocked at 0-0, Lee’s smart finish broke the deadlock and sent the team on the way to victory. He also created the vital second goal. It followed another excellent performance four days earlier as Bolton held big-spending Manchester City to a 3-3 draw. For the second time in less than a week, Lee was named by much of the English media as his team’s best player in that game too. “It is great to be playing regularly and I hope that I can score more goals over the rest of the season when the opportunities come,” Lee told Korean television after his West Ham performance. “I seem to be lucky as we have won all three games in which I have scored.” The Seoul media are excited. Scores of articles appeared lauding the star and more were written about what the English media was writing. Lee’s success is a shot in the arm for journalists getting bored of Park Ji-sung’s absence from Manchester United’s starting eleven. It would be a brave decision by Bolton head coach Gary Megson to leave out the youngster. The Englishman has much to thank Lee for. Megson has never been a popular figure among Bolton supporters and is he always just a couple of bad results away from serious pressure. Lee has been a big success story. His exploits on the pitch have not only helped the Wanderers pick up valuable points, he has lightened some of the load on the shoulders of his boss. In return, Megson showered Lee with praise. "He is getting stronger, his English is getting better and we are absolutely delighted with how he has settled in. He is getting very close to the other players - everybody likes him,” Megson said. "He has terrific qualities and he is starting now to get a bit of recognition up and down the country. He is getting goals and hopefully his confidence will come more and more and he will become a really big player for us. For the risk he took and also we took when we came together, we couldn't be more pleased." At the moment, everyone is pleased. Tags Soccer News football

With the benefit of hindsight it was written in the stars that FC Seoul’s season would end last Saturday after losing to Chunnam Dragons in the first round of the K-league’s championship play-offs. Seoul thought they shouldn’t have needed to play the match at all. The capital club spent the whole season slugging it out with Jeonbuk Motors at the top of the K-League and expected to go straight to the final, or at least, the semi-final. That all changed on the last day of the season as Seoul conceded a last-minute goal at home to Chunnam Dragons. That 1-1 tie saw Seoul slip into third. That finish meant Seoul had to negotiate the entire play-off series. As luck would have it, the first play-off opponent was Chunnam. And Chunnam was the last. For Seoul, it is very much a case of what might have been. For much of the season, the red-and-blacks looked the likeliest champion but when the push came to the shove, the team didn’t quite have the indefinable quality that champions need – the ability to dig in and fight for everything. The game again finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Seoul’s penalty area was the least crowded place in the whole city after 12 minutes and Chunnam striker Lee Gyu-ro took advantage to fire a fierce shot low into the home net. Three minutes later however, Seoul drew level. A delightfully measured slide-rule pass from Ki Sung-yong gave Jung Jo-gook an easy chance from close range. The excitement didn’t last and the game drifted towards penalties. Two Seoul players missed the target completely – Kim Sung-yung and, dismally, Lee Jong-min. Ki Sung-yong saw his kick well-saved. It was the last action for Ki in the Seoul shirt. He has already signed for Scottish giants Celtic in a $4 million deal and heads to Glasgow at the end of the year. Kwak Tae-whi scored the winning penalty. The international defender has spent much of the season battling injury but was fresh as a daisy as he shot home emphatically against his old club. "The players were confident about defeating FC Seoul before the game,'' Chunnam coach Park Hang-seo said."They figured out their opponents and were more confident. We will focus on regaining our fitness level for the second round match on Wednesday.” The match was the last in the three season tenure of Senol Gunes. It was a widely expected that the man who took Turkey to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup would be off home at the end of the season. Hometown club Trabzonspor had come knocking earlier in the year but now the Korean contract has ended, Gunes is free to head home back to the Black Sea and that is where he will probably be seen very soon. “I am leaving but I will never forget the fans in Seoul and my time here,” Gunes told Seoul's official site. “We have come a long way together and I am sure that next year the club will keep improving and Seoul will become champions.” That didn't happen under FIFA's coach of 2002 and the team also exited this year's Asian Champions League at the quarter-final stage. “Though I had a very happy three years here, I am sorry and frustrated that we didn’t win. This year was especially disappointing and I am sad as anyone.” While Seoul missed out on a first title, Gunes did enough to give the capital club a reputation for playing decent football and giving young footballers a chance. The likes of Park Chu-young, Lee Chung-yong and Ki Sung-yong become well-respected players around Asia and have all earned big money deals in Europe. The challenge for the new coach is to help the many young players at the club reach the same level. Gunes will not be in the Land of the Morning Calm to see which of the three teams remaining lift the K-League trophy. Seongnam conquered Incheon United after a penalty shootout despite having two defenders and their coach sent off. A subsequent and narrow win over Chunnam Dragons has earned a semi-final match against Asian champions Pohang Steelers. The rested Steelers are strong favourites against a weakened and tired Seongnam side and should win through to the final where Jeonbuk Motors are waiting. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags Soccer News football

With most attention on the exploits of Pohang Steelers in the Asian Champions League and the national team’s friendly matches in Europe against Denmark and Serbia, the fact that the K-League is about to embark upon its championship play-off series has almost gone unnoticed. Six teams are still in with a chance of the domestic title. One is Jeonbuk Motors. The team that finished first in the regular season gets the reward of being able to lie in wait in the final match in December and see which of the other five teams will be left standing. Four are in action this weekend – though only two will survive to go to the next stage. The first play-off takes place on Saturday in the capital as FC Seoul meets Chunnam Dragons and the following day, Incheon United travel to Seongnam Chunma. The two teams that emerge from the quarrelling quartet will meet each other next Wednesday. The winner of that will take on Pohang, second placed in the league, in the semi-final. Seoul finished the regular season in third place and out of all the four teams that are in action this weekend, the capital club is the one that really doesn’t want to be in this situation. Senol Gunes’s men spent most of the season in the top two spots and didn’t expect to be fighting it out with four others just to reach the semi-final. It all happened on the last day of the regular season, ironically against Chunnam at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The host needed to win to confirm second place and if Jeonbuk lost, it would go top. Thirteen minutes from the end, Seoul striker Dejan Damjanovic, who had earlier missed a penalty, fired a fierce shot into the top corner of the Dragons’ Den from a distance of 25 meters. It was a great strike but the way in which he celebrated was less impressive. Running towards the Chunnam bench, the Montenegrin shouted at the visiting staff and threw his shirt on the grass in front of them. The referee threw the excitable European out of the game though he had to be restrained from confronting Chunnam coach Park Hang-seo on his way off the field. The Dragons took advantage of their one-man advantage to equalize in the final minute to drag Seoul down from second to third. Another consequence of Damjanovic’s dismissal is the fact that he will not be able to play on Saturday. Even without their star striker however, Seoul will be confident of progressing to the next stage in front of its own fans. Chunnam finished in sixth place, eleven points behind Seoul. The team from South Jeolla Province has a star foreign striker of its own, Brazilian Adrian Chuva. The South American scored 13 goals this season and with Korean international defender Kwak Tae-hwi returning to fitness, the Dragons have a chance to recreate Pohang’s march to the 2007 title. Two years ago, after an unspectacular season in which the team finished fifth, the Steelers suddenly slipped into top gear in the play-offs and defeated Gyeongnam, Ulsan, Suwon and then Seongnam (twice) to lift the golden K-League trophy. Incheon finished fifth this time round but don't really look like a team ready to put Korea’s best teams to the sword. The West Coasters are just happy to be in the play-offs for the first time since 2005 after coming close on a number of occasions in recent years. The team, built on a strong defence line, has trundled along in the top six all season. Coach Ilja Petkovic took his team to the south coast on a final day of the regular season needing to defeat Busan I’Park to confirm a top six finish. A desperate mistake from Busan goalkeeper gave Incheon an unlikely goal and a vital win. The trip to Seongnam is much shorter for Incheon but the hosts are much stronger. Seongnam have a good record against Incheon over the years and over the last few weeks, the Gyeonngi giant has been in excellent form, winning seven out of its final ten games of the regular season. Sadly for the Yellows however, they lost out in the FA Cup final last weekend to Suwon Bluewings after a penalty shootout. All these play-off games are individual cup finals and anything could happen. Tags Soccer News football

With the Chuseok holidays in South Korea over, it is traditionally time for local fans to put down their overheated chopsticks and check out the race for the play-offs. Past battles have been thrilling and this season is no different. As always, we teams that have long forgotten thoughts of merely finishing in the top six to book a place in the championship play-off series and have eyes on top spot. FC Seoul currently occupy that position with 47 points, Jeonbuk has 45 and Pohang, which has five games remaining, one more than the others, has 41. There are benefits in straddling the top of the standings. The teams that finished third to sixth in the table go to the play-offs but must battle it out with each other. The one that emerges from that four way tussle will take on second-place. The winners progress to the championship final decider against the team that finished first.

A burning sense of injustice could spur on South Korea’s two teams remaining in the Asian Champions League. In the first leg of their respective quarter finals, both Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul suffered defeats on their travels to Uzbekistan and Qatar respectively. The K-League clubs have a chance to right the perceived wrongs on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their encounters. Seoul have the best chance of making the last four, as the league leaders are just 3-2 behind Umm Salal with two away goals in the bank. Seoul traveled to Qatar to face Umm Salal last week and the Korean league leaders raced into a two-goal lead thanks to Jung Jo-gook. The hosts pulled a goal back early in the second half but with around 20 minute remaining, Ahn Tae-eun fired home an unstoppable shot to give Seoul a 3-1 lead.

There is always a last-minute move before the European transfer window slams shut at the end of August but the latest deal to be made involving a South Korean star came so late that it will actually take place at the start of 2010. Ki Sung-yong has signed for Scotland titans Glasgow Celtic but will join the team next January. The 20 year-old is as highly-rated as they come and despite his tender age, is already an established international and one of Asia’s hottest properties. "I don't see him making a big impact on the team right now. If he does come, then I'd suggest it's something for the future,” said Celtic head coach Tony Mowbray just before the deal was done. "He's a young player with potential. Every player we sign is a big signing, but this kid has potential."