Korean teams to meet in familiar foes 2017 ACL

By John Duerden

KUALA LUMPUR — Football never stops. It has only been three weeks since Jeonbuk Motors lifted the Asian Champions League trophy after defeating Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the final.

On Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, the draw was made for the 2017 version in which 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four with the top two progressing to the second round, will kick off in February.

Korea has four representatives, three that are safely in the group stage with the other, Jeju United, having to win a playoff.

Jeonbuk faces a tough task in getting out of the group but will be confident in doing just that after progressing to the knockout stages a record nine times out of ten attempts.

The intriguing sub-plot this time is that Jeonbuk has been drawn with Jiangsu Suning of China. This reunites coach Choi Kang-hee with his former K-League rival Choi Yong-soo. The latter Choi left FC Seoul last June to head across the Yellow Sea to take over the big-spending Chinese club.

Under Choi, Jiangsu finished second in the Chinese Super League behind the dominant Guangzhou Evergrande, and with his experience in Asia with Seoul, will be looking forward to the continental competition.

Jeonbuk and Jiangsu met last year with the Koreans winning the group and the Chinese just missing out, though it was a close-run thing. With 20 minutes remaining in the final game of the group stage at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jiangsu was going through and Jeonbuk was heading out. The Koreans turned it around and never looked back.

Jiangsu has been spending big. At the start of 2016, there was over $100 million splashed out on stars from Brazil, Ramires and Jo, and the best of all, Alex Teixeira. There is likely to be more spent over the coming weeks as Chinese teams prepare for a new season.

As well as Jiangsu, there is Adelaide United. The Australian champion is struggling this season and while A-League teams are always tough competitors, Jeonbuk will be confident of overcoming that challenge as well as the addition of a fourth team in the group that will come through the play-offs.

K-League champion FC Seoul will take on 2014 Asian winner Western Sydney Wanderers, another Aussie team that is not at its best this season.

Shanghai SIPG will be expected to join the group if it manages to win its playoff. Coached by former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas and featuring Brazilian striker Hulk, signed for over $60 million last summer, Shanghai has big ambitions.

Suwon Bluewings squeezed into the competition thanks to winning the FA Cup after a disappointing league season. Suwon has been champion of Asia twice but has struggled in recent appearances.

Being grouped with Guangzhou Evergrande, the biggest club in Asia, coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, adds a challenge and excitement. Eastern from Hong Kong is also there, coached by Chan Yuen-ting. The 28 year-old coach became the first female ever in 2016 to lead a men’s team to a professional top tier league title.

And then there is Jeju United. Korea’s fourth representative has to go through a play-off to get to the group stage. The opposition will be either Hanoi T&T from Vietnam or Hong Kong’s Kitchee.

Jeju will be expected to win and enter a group comprising Japanese champion Kashima Antlers and Muangthong United of Thailand and either Shanghai Shenhua or Brisbane Roar of Australia.

The group stage kicks off in just over two months. Football never stops.