Schwenck's Goal Lifts Pohang Steelers Over Seongnam Chunma for First League Title in 15 Years
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
A first-half strike by Cleber Schwenck Tiene assured the Pohang Steelers' first K-League title in 15 years Sunday in a 1-0 victory over the Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma to wrap up their postseason hot streak.
Schwenck broke the opening deadlock in the 43rd minute, when he collected a headed lob from Ko Ki-gu, split two defenders at the edge of the box and unleashed a screamer to the top-left corner of the net that silenced the crowd on a chilly night at Seongnam's Tancheon Stadium.
The Brazilian's goal seemed to suck out the competitive will of the Chumna players, who needed to clear their red-hot opponents by at least two goals to have any hopes of clinching the title after a 3-1 loss in the first leg of the finals in Pohang last week.
``Everybody was talking about how Pohang has no stars on the roster, so I tried to give us a star (a championship mark) on our uniforms,'' said a beaming Pohang manager Sergio Farias, who is seen as a likely candidate to take the now-vacant job as South Korea's senior national team manager.
``The players worked hard in the past year, and it feels great that their efforts were rewarded. We proved that accumulating star players is not the road to a championship, but hard work is,'' said the Brazilian.