Seoul & Jeonbuk gunning for Asian quarterfinal

By John Duerden

Now the fun begins. Two South Korean teams fell by the wayside in the group stage of the Asian Champions League but FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Motors did what Pohang Steelers and Suwon Bluewings could not and reached round 16.

It is a two-legged home and away affair. Win and you are in the last eight and within touching distance of the final, the biggest club game in the world's biggest continent. Lose here though, and you won't be remembered.

As group winners, Seoul and Jeonbuk have been given what is seen as a slight advantage of playing the away leg first before returning home next week for the second leg.

Jeonbuk is making the long trip to Australia to take on Melbourne Victory. The A-League team is aggressive, strong and led by highly-rated coach Kevin Muscat. Muscat may have been feared as a player for his aggressive style but he has already shown himself to be a promising young coach.

In the other technical area is an older hand. Choi Kang-hee has coached more Asian Champions League games than any other. Choi knows that midweek games down under are never easy but at least soccer authorities allowed the boss to reschedule the weekend's K-league game, without which the schedule would have been much too tight.

In the group stage Melbourne finished second behind Shanghai SIPG and level on points with Suwon. The Bluewings had a better goal difference but the Asian Football Confederation separates teams on head-to-head records. Melbourne tied Suwon 0-0 at home and 1-1 on the road but it was that away goal that makes a difference. It carried the Aussies through.

The experienced and powerful Jeonbuk is a different proposition to the young Suwon team that played some good soccer but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.

Jeonbuk has plenty of firepower. Lee Dong-gook has scored more goals in this competition than any other player in history. There is tall striker Kim Shin-wook and Brazilian winger Leanardo. Throw in Kim Bo-kyoung, deserving of a recall to the national team, and Lee Jae-sung, and there is a lot to like. At the back there are some vulnerabilities but Jeonbuk has been the strongest Korean club this decade.

A draw in Australia would be a decent result for the first leg with the Greens hoping to win the tie at Jeonju World Cup Stadium a week later.

Unlike Jeonbuk who had to wait until the last seconds of the group stage to confirm its place in the last 16, Seoul strolled through, winning its group with a game to spare and scoring 17 goals in the process. Brazilian striker Adriano managed ten.

Next is an interesting tie with Urawa Reds of Japan. There should be a big crowd at Saitama Stadium just north of Tokyo for the first leg. The Japanese team helped to knock out defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande in the group stage and will be looking forward to taking on the K-League Classic leaders.

Seoul has the firepower in Adriano and Dejan Damjanovic to score every time they play but will need to be tight at the back against the Reds.

For both Seoul and Jeonbuk, avoiding defeat away from home and then finishing the job in front of their own fans would be just fine.