After Pyongyang frustration, time for K League to shine

Moon Seon-min of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors follows the ball during a K League match between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Pohang Steelers at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Sunday. Yonhap

By John Duerden

With all the fuss and attention on the qualification game between North and South Korea for the 2022 World Cup last Tuesday, the fact that the K League has undergone its split has gone nearly unnoticed.

For those who may not know, the split is exactly what it sounds. The 12-team league divides into two groups of six with five games of the 38 remaining. The "Championship" group is the top six with the bottom six trying to avoid a drop to the second tier.

The reason why this started in 2012 was the reduction of the league to 12 teams. It is an awkward number for a league season. If the teams play each other twice then there are 22 games, which is not enough. If they meet four times then it is 44, which is too many and too repetitive.

So play three times and after 33 games, divide into two and play five more. The split is supposed to keep things exciting and introduce more meaningful games. It puts relegation rivals and title challengers together in the hope that more of these kinds of games will mean more drama.

It does not always work, but there are times when it does. Nobody will ever forget the final moments of the 2013 season. Ulsan Horangi was at home against Pohang Steelers. Ulsan needed just to avoid defeat to win the title for a second time. Pohang needed to win. Both teams had chances but after five minutes of added time, it was still 0-0.

Pohang launched a desperate free-kick in those final seconds as Ulsan officials and injured players started to leave their seats high in the stadium to join in the imminent celebrations. By the time they descended three flights of stairs, Pohang was champion. The free-kick had bounced around the Ulsan area for what seemed like a long time before it ended up in the net in front of thousands of Pohang fans who had made the short journey from the steel city along the coast.

This time the big game may well be the penultimate fixture of the season as Ulsan hosts Jeonbuk on Nov. 23. Heading into the weekend only one point was separating the two teams, which are far ahead of anyone else.

There may be more drama in the bottom half. There are some big name down there, such as Suwon Bluewings and Seongnam FC, but these former Asian champions are not worried about relegation regardless of how disappointing the season has been. The battle to avoid the drop is between Jeju United, Incheon United and Gyeongnam. Gyeongnam finished in second place last season and Jeju fifth. Both are now firmly in the danger zone.

Everyone has just four games left either to save their season or achieve something special. After the bad feelings of the past few days that have left many people a little tired of soccer, the K-League has a chance to put a smile back on the faces of fans of the beautiful game.

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