2010 was a year to remember for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. The team from just south of Seoul not only won the Asian Champions League but went on to finish third place at the FIFA Club World Cup after meeting European champions Inter Milan. It was even better for Sasa Ognenovski, a man looking forward to his third K-League season. The big Australian was the man handed the Asian trophy in Tokyo in November. He was also named the MVP for the entire tournament and then the awarded the prize as the 2010 Asian Player of the Year. It was a dream season. Even better, the 31 year-old made his debut for the Australian national team in November and went on to star in the Asian Cup in January when the Socceroos made the final before losing to Japan. That is all history now. The new season has just kicked-off for Seongnam and the 15 other teams in the K-League. The question I put to him was: how do you follow a season that was almost as perfect as it could be? “Well, it is impossible if only because we are not in the Asian Champions League,” Ognenovski said. “However, it gives us a chance to focus on domestic issues such as the K-league and the FA Cup and doing our best to win those.” Not being in the Asian Champions League is a blow for the club. Seongnam’s exploits last season came at a cost at home and they failed to qualify for the 2011 version by finishing high enough in the K-League rankings. In the past, winners were given an automatic place in the tournament for the following year. That is no longer the case. “I think we should be allowed to defend the title,” said Ognenovski. “Any team that wins a major tournament should be able to defend that title but I don’t make the rules, we just have to not worry about Asia this year and all the travelling and just deal with the soccer in Korea.” There is another consequence of not having to deal with the Asian Champions League and it is not as positive. As the competition, featuring 32 teams from all over the continent, grows in prestige and profile, players want to be in it, especially those that have experienced it. Mauricio Molina was one. He could have been named the Player of the Tournament in Ognenovski’s stead and nobody would have batted an eyelid. Coming from Colombia, the wideman couldn’t, of course, have been named Asian Player of the Year but he was one of the best to play on the continent in 2010. So much so that FC Seoul paid out over $1 million to secure his services. He will be badly missed. I asked Ognenovski if Seoul being in the Champions League and Seongnam not was the reason for Molina’s departure. “Maybe,” he replied. “Obviously when you are playing on that stage, the whole of Asia is watching you and much of the world watches the final and then there is of course the FIFA Club World Cup. Players want to keep playing at the level and Seoul came in for him and they are in the champions League and we are not so he left. “He brought goals in all competitions that he played in. Overall, he scored 27 or 28 goals. It is hard to replace that and talent like that is not always easy to find and he wasn’t even playing as a striker so it was even more valuable. His set pieces were excellent and his assists too. Whoever comes in has big shoes to fill.” South Korean national team goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryeong has left for Suwon, another team in the Asian Champions League, and he was followed by Choi Sung-kuk. Ognenovski’s central defensive partner Cho Byung-kuk has left for Japan. So despite not having the distraction of Asia, some of the team’s biggest stars have left. Winning an eighth K-league title will not be easy. “It is never positive to lose good players, especially ones who are in the national team but the replacement goalkeeper we have is quality. We have been in pre-season now for a while and I have had chance to watch him in action and I can say he is good.” Ha Kang-jin certainly was in the opening weekend of the K-League season as he saved a last-minute penalty kick at Pohang Steelers to secure a 1-1 tie and has been named in the squad to face Honduras on March 25. Seongnam coach Shin Tae-yong, one of the most highly-rated young tacticians in Asia, has promised fans two new players from Brazil that he hopes will replace the likes of Molina. Ognenovski hopes so: “In the K-League, if you get good foreigners then they can make a big difference. Hopefully the ones we bring in are better than the ones who left.” Whatever happens, the big man from down under will not feel lonely in 2011. Three more imports have followed in his footsteps from Australia’s A-League. Iain Fyfe and Dutchman Bas Van der Brink have joined Busan I’Park while Luke Devere is now a Gyeongnam player. “They talk to me and ask me about the lifestyle and the league. I usually answer in a positive fashion. I talked to Luke Devere and told him that he will improve as a player because he will be marking better players as a defender and will also be playing with better players. “It is a great experience. I haven’t talked to the other guys but am sure that we will get a chance at some point. But we are here to play football in the end and that is our job. The other things are not so important. We are not here to look around and go sightseeing.” Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Asian football history will be made this Wednesday with South Korea at the heart of it all. The Land of the Morning Calm is supplying 50% of the eight teams still involved in the Asian Champions League as the continental competition resumes at the quarterfinal stage after a break of four months. Much has happened since the second round came to a close in May, not least the 2010 World Cup. Nothing like this, one nation supplying the maximum four teams possible, has happened before however. East and South-East Asia supplied 16 of the 32 teams that started out in the competition back in February. The four teams each from Japan and China have fallen by the wayside as have representatives from Australia, Indonesia and Singapore. Only Korea remains as the K-League looks for a ninth championship and East Asia for a fifth in succession. Now, with the final in sight, the continent is no longer split into east and west. After the group stage and the one-off match of the second round, the quarter and semi-finals are two-legged affairs. Defending Asian champions Pohang Steelers and defending Korean champions Jeonbuk Motors will face long trips to West Asia over the next week. Not Seongnam Ilhwa or Suwon Bluewings though. Most eyes in Korea will be on the clash between the Gyeonggi giants who become the first all-Korean participants of an Asian tie since Jeonbuk and Ulsan met at the semi-final stage of the 2006 tournament. It promises to be quite a clash, both at Seongnam’s Tancheon Stadium on Wednesday and in the second leg at Suwon World Cup Stadium a week later. A few months ago, Seongnam, would have been the overwhelming favorites to progress to the last four for the third time in seven years but much has changed over the summer. To be more accurate, Suwon have changed. The team now bears little resemblance to the soporific and sluggish side that sank to the bottom of the K-League in the first half of the season. With loss after loss in the domestic game, coach Cha Bum-keun, regarded as the greatest Asian soccer player of the 20th century, called it a day in June. His replacement Yoon Sung-hyo has, so far, been a revelation. Seven wins and two ties, a record marred only by last weekend’s loss at the hands of leaders Jeju United, have seen the Bluewings soar from bottom to seventh place in the league. New signing Naohiro Takahara is starting to score and the former Japanese international in joined in attacked by the returning Shin Young-rok. With Kim Doo-hyun and Baek Ji-hoon looking like their former selves in midfield, Suwon fans are confident of upsetting Seongnam. In Asian terms that would be something of a shock. Seongnam were much more impressive in the Champions League earlier this season and is still going well in the league with six wins from its last ten matches. Coach Shin Tae-yong is looking to become the first man to win the Asian Champions League as both coach and player after lifting the trophy with the same club back in 1996. "Suwon has a strong forward and midfield line-up …and the team condition of Suwon looks very good and it is also playing well. But we don’t need to worry about this. We will prepare well and win.” said Shin to the official homepage of the Asian Football Confederation. “Every K-League club has a keen desire to play in the Champions League. They want to win the prize money and they want to play in the FIFA Club World Cup. So they prepare a lot for the competition. I think this is the main reason why four K-League clubs could reach the last eight this year.” Pohang Steelers won the competition last year for a record third time and despite the team’s poor form at home; they have made it into the last eight once again. The first leg is a long trek to the home of Iran’s league leaders Zob Ahan. It is the first time that the hosts have made it this far but after the Iranian national team won 1-0 in Seoul last week in an international friendly, Pohang will be taking nothing for granted. The third Korean match sees Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia travel to Jeonju to face Jeonbuk Motors. It is the first West Asian opposition for the Greens since the final of the 2006 tournament in which they defeated Al Karama of Syria. Jeonbuk will be favorites to progress to the last four despite a poor showing last Friday as they lost 3-1 at home to Gangwon FC. Last, and for Koreans, least, is the all West Asian clash between Saudi Arabian powerhouse AL Hilal and Qatar's Al Gharafa. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters World Cup football

We’re almost there now. On the evening on Saturday June 12, Seoul and other South Korean cities will be crammed with red-shirted people ready to eat, drink and watch their national team kick off its 2010 World Cup campaign against Greece. Nelson Mandela Bay is the location for the opening Group B match, one that most pundits believe Korea has to win in order to have a good chance of progressing to the second round. There is still a little work to do before then however. Not least in a final test in the early hours of Friday morning, Korea time, against European champion Spain in the picturesque Austrian city of Innsbruck. Spain is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Korea’s target is a little less lofty but after two and a half years of preparation, it is a final chance for players to stake their claim for a starting spot. It is likely however, after the experimentation of Sunday’s friendly 1-0 defeat against Belarus when coach Huh Jung-moo gave much of the squad a chance to play, that most of the eleven players who line up against the Spanish will do the same against Greece on June 12. The performance in the Belarus match was flat and the result was poor. It was a low key match however played among the Alps, good preparation for the relatively high altitude in some World Cup host cities. It had the feel of a preparation game, was a highly experimental affair and the team’s form has been good enough of late to be able to shrug off a bad afternoon. And everyone knows, winning all the warm-up games is never a guarantee of success at the big tournament. More serious was the sight of Kwak Tae-hwi being carried off the pitch in the first half. The defender twisted a knee ligament. Lee Won-jae, the team’s media officer, said, “Kwak will need at least four weeks to recover…. Coach Huh Jung-moo will request a replacement.” It is a cruel blow for the Japan-based centre back but it is good news for Suwon Bluewings defender Kang Min-soo who has been summoned. There have other changes as the roster was finally trimmed from 26 to the regulation 23 on Monday. Three players had their dreams dashed at the final hurdle and were sent home on Monday. Midfielders Shin Hyung-min and Ku Ja-cheol have missed out. Both are fairly new to the national team scene and have not done enough to convince the coach that they are necessary. It is sad for Ku, a promising 21 year-old Jeju United star who has been linked with a move to English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, but he will have more chances. Coach Huh claimed that Shin just didn’t look sharp against Belarus and the Pohang Steelers defensive midfielder is on his way home. He will be joined back in East Asia by Lee keun-ho. The Japan-based striker was one of six attackers in the preliminary roster and it was always likely that one would be cut. Lee scored a number of important goals in qualification but hasn’t found the net for the national team in 15 months. As Huh succinctly pointed out “he has been given opportunities but hasn’t taken them.” That means that 2002 star Ahn Jung-hwan is going to his third World Cup at the age of 34. The 23 will all be hoping to take the pitch against Spain and all will be desperate to avoid a Kwak-like fate though as the Spanish will be in a similar state of mind, it should be a fairly gentle affair. Spain struggled to a 3-2 win over Saudi Arabia last weekend and will be keen for a better performance against East Asian opposition. Whatever the outcome, taking on the likes of David Villa, Xavi and Andres Iniesta will be a worthy final test for South Korea as they move closer to the games that really matter. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters World Cup football

You know that the World Cup must be around the corner when a number of football-related movies hit the theatres. No less than four are in the pipeline in South Korea, giving fans who find three games a day broadcast from South Africa not quite enough a chance to satisfy their football cravings. The two most high-profile of the quartet are already out and these are ‘Dreams Come True’ and ‘The Second Coming: The Moken Tribe’s World Cup'. ‘Dreams Come True’ is a movie in which 2000 hit Joint Security Area (JSA) meets the 2002 World Cup. It follows how soldiers from both sides of the De-Militarised Zone, that divides the peninsula, attempt to get together and watch South Korea’s famous run to the semi-finals eight years ago. “There are many great movies about football, “director Kye Yoon-shik when I asked him why he made the film. “’Dreams come True’ is a movie that deals with the Inter-Korean relations through the prism of football and that makes us question what the problem between South and North Korea truly is.” With North and South Korea both heading to the World Cup for the first time ever, there couldn’t be a better time to release the film - and at least that was how it looked until recently. “It is not good timing to be releasing the movie due to the current tensions between the North and the South right now,” admitted Kye and added, “but in 2009 when I started making this movie, we were planning to release it before the 2010. I had no choice but to follow the schedule for the movie distribution.” The film’s message is not hard to guess and it is a positive one. “Football can't solve all diplomatic problems, but I believe that football, which is world's most loved sport, could certainly bring people together and contribute to establishing peace in the world. Korea is the last remaining vestige of the Cold War and we're a divided nation. Also I think this touching story about football told with a comic twist makes the movie appealing to viewers from all over the world. South Korea is in the running to host the 2022 World Cup and there is talk of allowing Pyongyang to host a couple of games if the bid is successful and it is something that the director agrees with. “Football is the most popular sport in Korea and it has given this nation true confidence and peace. I sincerely hope that we will be the host of the 2022 World Cup.” ‘The Moken Tribe’s World Cup’ is a rather different affair. Just on the Thailand-Myanmar border resides the Moken tribe. Used to playing with footballs made from bound papaya leaves, this documentary tells the story of how Korean Kang Sung-min, a very talented player, trains and teaches the local boys how to play the beautiful game. It is an inspiring tale of how this motley group of boys who have never seen a real football before are molded into a tight-knit team, based, partly at least, on the training routines introduced by Guus Hiddink in 2002. The film doesn’t end there, the cameras travel with the team as they are allowed to enter a regional under-14 tournament for the first time. There, the boys, who play bare-footed, take on teams physically bigger, stronger and better-equipped but not necessarily better. “Football is life and dream and hope for these children,” director Shin Hyun-won told me. “Once they acquire nationality (the tribe are not yet officially citizens of Thailand) I'm certain that they can become professional players and even national team players beecause these Moken children have passion for football. And Kang created 100 football teams for children all over the region. Among the children taught by Kang are national team players, female national team players, youth national team players and many more. “There are 3500 youth players and 100 coaches from all over southeast Asia who learned from Kang. I believe that Korea must take the leadership role to contribute to world's football as Asia's football powerhouse with eight appearances at the World Cup.” Copyright : John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters World Cup football

You can’t do much better than 100 percent. South Korea’s quartet of teams that started the 2010 Asian Champions League back in February have all survived the first round intact. China have lost at least three of theirs and it could be all four while Japan will see at least one and probably two fall by the wayside. But in the Land of the Morning Calm, it has been a comfortable, stress-free progression. Pohang Steelers, Suwon Bluewings, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Jeonbuk Motors are all through to the round of sixteen having played just five of the six group games. It is an impressive achievement to see all four progress unscathed but actually, it could have been better. The top two teams from each of the eight groups progress to the knockout stage but not all are equal. Finishing in first place ensures that the one-off game in the next round is played at home. Finishing second means a journey elsewhere. Seongnam is the best-placed and is already certain of a home tie. The Yellows can sit back and see who will finish first or second in Group G. At the moment, that is Suwon Bluewings. It remains to be seen if either team will welcome meeting such a familiar foe on the continental stage. The local media certainly will. Suwon’s players are kicking themselves that they are not currently occupying top spot instead of Gamba Osaka. In last week’s match in Japan, Suwon was level at 1-1 with seconds remaining until the defenders somehow let Gamba’s 17 year-old striker Takashi Usami score the decisive goal. The 2-1 win puts the J-League team in pole position. "I thought we were heading home with one point in our hand,” lamented Suwon coach Cha Bum-keun who is lamenting often these days. “But our players seemed to have lost their concentration in the last part of the game. We gave up their first goal so easily and so soon after our first goal, and that hurt us. We want to play at home in the round of 16 but … that possibility seems to have become smaller.” Suwon is a team that has been struggling of late with Asia being the only bright spot of what is becoming another dismal season at home. Three successive defeats in the K-League, including a painful 3-0 loss at the home of bitter rivals FC Seoul and a 2-1 defeat at home to Seongnam, preceded the Osaka disappointmen and then one followed. Unless the Japanese lose in China next week and Suwon defeat Singapore Armed Forces, Suwon will be making the short trip across Gyeonggi Province. Jeonbuk Motors is another team that is likely to finish second after conceding a last-minute goal to a Japanese team. Kashima Antlers won 2-1 in Jeonju in March and the K-League champions have been playing catch-up ever since. Both are through to the last 16 but if Jeonbuk, who won the competition in 2006, want to play at home in the next round, it has to win at the home of the Japanese champion. “We want to avenge the defeat in Kashima,” said Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-hee after the match and added. “I know that is going to be a difficult away game but we will use the best of what we have to get a victory. I have plans for that.” If Jeonbuk don’t manage to get the result in Ibaraki next week then a long trip to South Australia to take on Adelaide United is on the cards. But if things go differently, a game against Pohang Steelers and a Jeolla and Gyeongsang Province match-up is a distinct possibility. All four Korean teams playing each other in the round of sixteen would be something to see. Copyright: Soccerphile.com & John Duerden Tags World Cup Pens World Cup football

The seasons are changing in South Africa. The summer weather is coming to an end and the beaches of Durban and Cape Town are no longer as busy as they were. Fall has arrived and soon, winter will come to bring pleasant days but cold nights to cities such as Johannesburg. In 2010 however, winter means one thing in South Africa – the World Cup. That tournament looms large on the horizon of Yeom Ki-hun.The Suwon attacker hasn’t yet played a game for his new club since arriving in Gyeonggi Province from Ulsan Horang-I in the off-season. The likeable 27 year-old is battling through an annual problem – injury. He needs to start playing very soon if he is to take one of the 23 seats on the plane that leaves Incheon International Airport in late May. Yeom, who still bears the scars from a serious automobile accident in 2006, rarely plays a full season. A series of physical problems have blighted his career and prevented him, perhaps, from becoming the star he could have been. The latest setback came in February when he fractured a bone in his foot during training with the national team at the East Asian Championships. It was a cruel blow for the player and the former Ulsan star, who has played 30 times for the Taeguk Warriors, is keen to get back on the pitch to show what he can do. “I haven’t given up on going to the World Cup. The operation went well and at the moment, I am feeling good,” Yeom told local media in March. “My recovery is coming on leaps and bounds,” he added. “My strong points are such things as taking free-kicks, crossing and shooting. If I show that I am at my best, opportunities should come my way." Yeom expects to be back around the middle of this month and that is looking a little optimistic and is cutting it fine. Assuming he does return on schedule, and with this versatile attacker you can never be sure, it doesn’t give him much time to get himself back to match fitness and build his stamina. National team coach Huh Jung-moo has an exhibition match in Seoul against Ecuador planned on May 16 – the only game in the Land of the Morning Calm before the big event – and the selected stars will get together on May 9. If Yeom is not in that roster then it all will be too late. The same applies to Seol Ki-hyeon, another winger who can play on either side or even in the middle. The former English Premier League star left Fulham in the winter to come and play for Pohang Steelers. At the age of 31, he had never played in the K-League in his career and he still hasn’t. A knee injury that didn’t seem to serious at first has dragged on. At almost every press conference early in the season, Pohang boss Waldemar Lemos told reporters that the player was almost ready but then in late March, it was revealed that ‘The Sniper’ has gone under the knife. It wasn’t a big operation so Seol could be back this month but if he wants to go the World Cup, (and who doesn’t?) he needs to be back, fit and playing well as soon as possible. In truth it doesn’t look good for either, especially Seol, but at least they will be in good company with the likes of David Beckham of England and Spain’s Cesc Fabregas also likely to be watching the tournament from the sidelines. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags World Cup Pens World Cup football

It turns out that ‘Koreaphobia’ is a condition not easily cured. For South Korea and China, this week is the ‘decider’. The two neighbours have crossed swords twice this year already with the score resting at 1-1. Events over the next 48 hours will determine which nation emerges as the winner. The Koreans have long had the upper hand when it comes to the beautiful game. In 32 meetings between the two national teams, China had never won. Such a woeful record gave rise to the pseudo-psychological condition that described the fear of playing Korea. It was a term coined in the Middle Kingdom but taken up with gusto in the Land of the Morning Calm. That all changed on a February evening in Tokyo when China shocked the Asian Tigers with a 3-0 win. The result wasn’t flattering in the least and it could easily have been more. The victory was the best moment for Chinese football since they reached the 2004 Asian Cup final. It was greeted with a hail of happy headlines on the west side of the Yellow Sea and provoked gloom, doom and much soul-searching over on the east. Only a 2-0 win over Ivory Coast a month later lightened the mood ahead of the World Cup - that and last week’s results. The Asian Champions League reached the halfway stage and as it did so, Korea’s four representatives in the competition met China’s quartet. Each of the eight groups contains four teams with the top two progressing to the second round. It was a clean sweep for Korea as all four K-League teams triumphed against Chinese Super league opposition. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma started the week coming back from a goal down at home against the Chinese champion. Beijing Guoan took the lead in the first half due to former Scotland international Maurice Ross but the Yellows hit back with three goals in the final twelve minutes to win 3-1 and stay on course for the second round. Two hours later, Suwon Bluewings recorded a vital 2-0 victory in the Chinese province of Henan to cement its place at the top of Group G. A similar result in Wednesday’s return match at Suwon World Cup Stadium will likely see Cha Bum-keun’s team reach the knockout stage. If Korean players think the winter is dragging on at home then Jeonbuk Motors faced freezing conditions in northern China at the home of Changchun Yatai. Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-hee wondered aloud if the host watered the freezing pitch overnight in order to turn it into an ‘ice rink’. The charge was denied. It didn’t matter in the end as though Changchun took the lead midway through the second half, late goals from ‘The Prince’ Choi Tae-wook and ‘The Lion King' Lee Dong-gook gave the Motors an impressive win in a tough environment. Changchun visit Jeonju on Tuesday. The fantastic fourth win came on a bitterly cold night in Pohang. The Pohang Steelers were not at their best but still squeezed past the challenge of Shandong Luneng to win 1-0. The visitor missed a late penalty to end a bad week for Chinese soccer. Naturally, it was mentioned by more than one media source in Korea though there was a good deal of restraint showed. The Beijing media was a little depressed but there was at least some sense of perspective from leading newspaper Titan. “Our four teams shouldn’t give up,” said Titan. In the ‘Korea vs. China Asian Championship Series’, we lost 4-0 although the national team won 3-0 last month. We know we couldn't catch up with Japanese and Korean football in one night time but there is a long way to run. Our clubs shouldn’t give up their Asian Champions League hopes. That would be a much bigger shame.” “All four Chinese clubs lost their match in ACL in single matchday, it is the first time this has happened.” Said ‘Soccer’. “And they were all defeated by Korean rivals. We may have cured Koreaphobia in international matches for the first time in 32 years but the shameful results returned.” Such sentiments could easily change over the next 48 hours. Tags Soccer News football

It wouldn’t be the K-League without a strong Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. The Yellows have won seven league titles and possess the biggest trophy cabinet in the southern half of the peninsula. It was 2006 however when the golden trophy last resided just south of Seoul. Since then, Pohang, Suwon and, most recently, Jeonbuk have claimed the mantle. The second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009 was a tough time for the club’s fans. Kim Hak-bom had led Seongnam playing attractive and successful football but the gruff tactician’s powers seemed to fade after four years at the helm. At the end of 2008, the former powerhouse looked a little slow and predictable and it was no surprise when Kim was out of the door. The identity of the new man was something of a surprise. Shin Tae-yong may have been called ‘Mr Seongnam’ due to the fact that he spent 12 seasons with the club as a player but when he was appointed as coach, he had little experience to suggest that he could lead the club back to the summit. As his playing career started to come to an end, Shin headed to Australia and the new A-League. The midfielder barely got a chance to show Queensland Roar fans what he was made of before injury intervened. Shin stayed on with the Brisbane-based club as an assistant coach. Still, few expected the 39 year-old to be announced as Seongnam coach for the 2009 season. It didn’t start well. Australian football is regarded as one where power is more prized than technique. Shin seemed to confirm that stereotype by introducing a more direct style to a Seongnam team that had long been known for a fluid passing game. In came giant Montenegrin marksman Dzenan Radoncic – a striker not known for his subtlety - and from Australia came a defender that was just as big, Sasa Ognenovski. The first half few months were disappointing. The team looked disjointed and toothless. Over time though, results and performances started to improve and in the second half of the season, Seongnam was the team in the best form. That was partly due to the arrival of Mauricio Molina. The former Colombian international quickly established himself as the leading foreign player in the league. His goals, his passing, his creativity and set piece ability have all played their parts. Seongnam made it to the final of the championship play-off series at the end of the season, only to lose out to Jeonbuk Motors. Even with the undoubted class of Molina, not much was expected in 2010 as Seongnam lost its midfield heartbeat. Star player Kim Jung-woo answered the call of the military and started his two-year stint with Gwangju Sangmu while partner Lee Ho answered the call of his wallet by accepting a big-money move to UAE club Al Ain. So far at least, they haven’t been missed. Last Friday, Jeonbuk became the first team to score a goal against this Seongnam team in 2010. Prior to that, Shin’s men had won two Asian Champions League matches, defeating the highly-rated Kawasaki Frontale of Japan 2-0 before heading to Australia to win by the same scoreline at the home of Melbourne Victory. Earlier this week came the visit of Beijing Guoan. The Chinese champions, like Seongnam, had won both games so far and took the lead through former Scottish international Maurice Ross. Three goals in the last 12 minutes from the Korean team means that Seongnam are looking very good indeed for a place in the second round. Domestically, the start to the K-League was just as good. An opening weekend 3-0 against Gangwon FC was followed by a demolition of Incheon United. The usually solid west coast team was thrashed 6-0 by a rampant Seongnam. Then the Yellows went to the home of the Jeonbuk and came within a whisker of winning. Only a 94th minute free-kick from Eninho gave the host a 1-1 tie and stopped Seongnam moving to the top of the K-League standings. Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-hee was relieved after the final whistle. “Seongnam is a very good and balanced team,” said Choi. “It was a really tough game for us and we are just happy that we managed to get a goal at the end.” It is a measure of how well Seongnam is doing that coach Shin was disappointed with a 1-1 tie at the home of the champions. “We missed lots of chances and that is why we didn’t win the game,” he said. “it is always hard to concede such a late goal but overall we played well. We are going well and feeling confident but we know that the season is just beginning.” Tags Soccer News football

The World Cup is always exciting but for fans of South Korea, June 2010 is going to be fascinating. If being in a group with South American powerhouse Argentina, 2004 European champions Greece and African giant Nigeria wasn’t exciting enough, there could be some familiar faces around this summer. Pim Verbeek is one. The Dutchman was the assistant coach at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and then took the helm in July 2006 for a period of one year during which he led South Korea to third place at the 2007 Asian Cup. As soon as the competition finished, so did Verbeek’s time in the Land of the Morning Calm and he resigned. A few months later, he surfaced in Australia, after Dick Advocaat, South Korea’s 2006 World Cup boss, refused the job, Verbeek took charge. Charged with leading the Socceroos to South Africa, the laconic European did just that. Australia strolled through qualification and finds itself in a tough-looking group with European heavyweight Germany, talented Ghana and a tough-looking Serbian team. Such a line-up reads slightly scarier than the one at the Asian Cup which involved Indonesia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia but Verbeek is feeling confident. “I can honestly say there was one word that shot through my mind when we came out in a group with Germany – great!” He wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's the second-toughest group overall, I'm sure about that. But when the stakes are so high, we'll be up for a fight. Germany are very strong…Over the years they have shown how successful you can be with a team that works together. "Ghana are playing on their home continent but that's a double-edged sword. They will have support for sure, but as with Germany will also face pressure to live up to the fans' expectations. We beat them last year in a friendly in Sydney, though neither side was at its strongest. Serbia will be quick but also strong.” Verbeek will always have a special place in the hearts of South Korean fans. As well as his time in charge of the national team, he will be remembered as an assistant to Guus Hiddink in 2002. Hiddink took Australia to the 2006 World Cup and after subsequent spells with the Russian national team and a temporary job in charge of London club Chelsea, it looked for a time as if the man, who was granted honorary citizenship of Korea after his exploits with the Taeguk Warriors, was going to be at the 2010 World Cup. The well-travelled tactician takes the Turkey job in August, leaving a window of opportunity to take the vacant Ivory Coast position though he has since ruled himself out. It would have made for an even more fascinating Group G. The talented Africans, defeated 2-0 by South Korea in a recent warm-up in London, have been placed in a group with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea. South Korean fans were already looking forward to seeing how their northern neighbors perform in such a tough environment but the addition of Hiddink into the mix would have been the egg on the top of that particular bi-bim-bap. Hiddink was also in the frame for the Nigeria job that was vacant until earlier this month. He didn’t get it but one of his predecessors in Seoul definitely wanted it. Jo Bonfrere arrived in South Korea in June 2004, took the team through qualification for the World Cup before resigning in August 2005. As the man with past experience with Nigeria, he led the team to the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; the Dutchman was desperate for the chance to finally go to the World Cup. "I know your players very well,” he said last month. "The players have confidence in me, I also have confidence in them, I know what it takes to build a good team for Nigeria, I only needs time for training," he said. "I always say that Nigeria can beat any team in the world. But you have to build a team to achieve this. There is no problem of players, the players are there, what is needed is just time to build a team. If you give me the job on time, I will build a team that will reach the final of the World Cup in South Africa," he added. Bonfrere’s predecessor Humberto Coelho, who resigned in May 2003, was also very close to South Africa. He led Tunisia through qualification to the stage where the Carthage Eagles needed just to win their last game in Mozambique to make it to the 2010 World Cup. Tunisia lost and Coelho was out of a job. Another former South Korean assistant coach Afshin Ghotbi is now coach of Iran’s national team and came very close to qualifying for South Africa. If only all had made it. It would have been a Korean reunion like no other! Tags Soccer News football

It has started. Nobody is quite sure exactly when and where but the debate about whether Ahn Jung-hwan should play at the 2010 World Cup is well and truly underway. The striker, now 34, was the hero of the 2002 competition when South Korea made it to the semifinals, scored the winning goal in 2006 to give his country a first-ever overseas victory at the world’s biggest tournament and, now, he could be on course for a third consecutive appearance. He is about to return to the national team set-up for the first time in 20 months for March's friendly with Ivory Coast in London. Ahn's name featured in headlines around the world in that golden summer almost eight years ago. Just hours after scoring the goal that sent South Korea into the last eight of the World Cup and eliminated the much-fancied Italian national team, Ahn was fired from his Italian club team of Perugia. His header had greatly upset his club’s owner Luciano Gaucci. “He was a phenomenon only when he played against Italy. I am a nationalist and I regard such behavior not only as an affront to Italian pride but also an offense to a country which two years ago opened its doors to him," Gaucci told the Italian media. "I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer.” Unsurprisingly, Ahn left Italy in the summer of 2002. Since then, he has been something of a journeyman. He headed to Japan and Shimizu S-Pulse and Yokohama F Marinos. After those two successful spells, he has struggled to find the net. First he tried in France and FC Metz, Germany and MSV Duisberg and eventually returned home to Suwon Bluewings and then Busan I’Park. The ‘Lord of the Ring’ (nicknamed so for his goalscoring celebration that involved kissing his wedding ring) went to China last year to play for Dalian Shide. After a tough start in the chilly northern port city, he enjoyed a reasonable season. He is now being talked about in the terms of a World Cup ‘joker’, a player who could be introduced late into a game with the intention of making a big impact in a short time. Ahn’s winning goal against Togo in 2006 was his third World Cup goal, more than any of his compatriots have ever managed on the world stage. Those memories linger long. The thought of the wavy-haired striker doing so one more time against Argentina, Nigeria and Greece, has his fans excited. The player is keeping his feet on the ground. "Until now, I haven't thought about it," he told Ilgan Sports earlier this month. "But it will be an honour if I am selected. I am happy if the coach thinks that I am a player that the national team needs. "All football players want to play at the World Cup but the results of the national team have been good and I have hardly thought about going to the World Cup. There are many better players than me. I will just keep doing my best." The excitement was ratcheted up a notch late last week as he scored a goal in a friendly game between Dalian and K-League club Gangwon FC. The header was witnessed by South Korea’s assistant coach Jung Hae-sung. He had been dispatched by head coach Huh Jung-moo to check on the Chinese-based hitman. “I was very impressed with his attitude,” Jung was quoted as saying. “He appears to be ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the national team, even though he is a veteran. “He was not 100 per cent fit but still managed to play the full match and score a goal. His movement around the box could improve but overall he put on a good performance.” Huh said in January that he was keeping his, or at least Jung’s, eyes on Ahn and that the door is always open. The big test comes when the squad is named for the Ivory Coast match and according to the Korean media, the KFA have requested to Dalian that Ahn be made available. The Lord of the Ring looks like he may have the chance to complete his World Cup trilogy. Tags Soccer News football