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| Ulsan Hyundai's coach Yoon Jung-hwan smiles after his team beat FC Seoul 2-0 at the K-League match, Sunday. / Yonhap |
Defending K-League Classic champion Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors proved its dominance against FA Cup winner Seongnam FC, while Ulsan Hyundai's new coach Yoon Jung-hwan stunned FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo in the first round of the top-tier football league in Korea at the weekend.
Jeonbuk, thought to be the most formidable side in the K-League, thrashed Seongnam 2-0 on Saturday, with coach Choi Kang-hee's men dominating the pitch over the 90 minutes.
Seongnam stood up against Jeonbuk by focusing on defense, but could not stop Edu, who returned to the Motors after his stint at Schalke 04, from scoring twice.
"Edu has looked good during our winter training," said Choi after the official opening game of this season. "From next round, Lee Dong-gook can return to the pitch, so I will consider various combinations. If the two (Edu and Lee) start a game, opponents will definitely feel the pressure. We have conducted experiments during the winter training."
An hour before the game, Incheon United and Gwangju FC played a 2-2 draw at Incheon Football Stadium.
Incheon midfielder Kim Do-hyeok scored with a powerful left-footer in the 13th for the first goal of the season. Nine minutes later, he was shown the first yellow card of this season. The dishonor of the first own goal went to Incheon defender Kim Dae-joong in the 32nd minute. Gwangju defender Jeong Jun-yeon also put the ball into his net in the 91st minute.
Yoon's stunning debut
On Sunday, Ulsan's Yoon Jung-hwan made his coaching debut in the K-League against FC Seoul. Forward Yang Dong-hyen scored one goal and assisted in another.
Yoon is close to FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo. The two are the same age and spent their playing careers in the national team in the late 90s. They now face each other as coaches, with Yoon joining the K-League in December after a successful coaching career with Sagan Tosu in the J-League.
As a player, Yoon showed technique-oriented style, based on creative passes, but as Ulsan coach, he focused on wide and solid football, with counter attacks critical. That worked well against FC Seoul, whose players seemed exhausted after a series of games in the Asian Champions League.
"I will focus on building attacks from a base of solid defense," Yoon said. "If we don't concede goals, I'm sure we can play winning football down the road."
In the first round of the K-League, 83,871 fans visited six stadiums across Korea, the most since the K-League began keeping its attendance tally in 2012. The biggest crowd was 23,180 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, where Jeonbuk hosted Seongnam.
However, there was also a disturbing incident in the first round.
The head of a magpie was found on a staircase at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Because the magpie is Seongnam's mascot, K-League organizers suspect a Jeonbuk fan did it.
Postings on Seongnam's website are calling for the club to complain to Jeonbuk.
A Jeonbuk official said the club would view closed circuit footage to find out who was responsible, and pledged to punish the person responsible if he/she was a Jeonbuk supporter.
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