'No-fan' K League to kick off with Jeonbu-Suwon clash
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors midfielder Son Jun-ho, right, celebrates with teammate Han Kyo-won after scoring the team's second goal against Daejeon Hana Citizen FC during an exhibition match at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, Saturday. / Yonhap
By John Duerden
It's finally here. The 2020 K-League season kicks off Friday, 10 weeks after the original date had to be scrapped due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Champions Jeonbuk Motors will host FA Cup winner Suwon Bluewings at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. It would be nice to say “see you there” but no fans will be allowed, however, it deserves to be watched on television
The world is waiting and will be watching as the K-League becomes the most significant soccer competition to start since the coronavirus swept the world. It has brought the beautiful game to a standstill but it could just be that Friday symbolizes a turning of the corner. At least, that is the hope.
The season is a shortened one. Instead of the usual 38 games to look forward to, there will be, all being well, 27.
Jeonbuk has been the dominant team for the past few years, winning five of the last six titles. It was a close-run thing last year, however, with Ulsan Horangi blowing it on the final day.
Losing stars such as Moon Seon-min to the army and Ricardo Lopes to China are blows, but Jeonbuk is not averse to bringing in new players. There will be plenty of interest in South African striker Lars Veldwijk while other additions, such as Oh Ban-suk and Kim Bo-kyung, are much more familiar. It seems to be a case of “if you finish above the team from Jeonju, then you will be champion.”
Ulsan should have done so last year and have had plenty of time to reflect on what went wrong. Losing Kim to Jeonbuk, as well as Mix Diskerud, means that much depends on experienced midfield replacements Yoon Bit-garam and Koh Myong-jin. There are other new signings too and if coach Kim Do-hoon can get the team to gel, then perhaps 2020 will be Ulsan's year.
Suwon will get an early look at the champion but need to improve on indifferent league form. Much depends on whether Australian striker Adam Taggart can repeat his 2019 heroics. In his first season in Korea, the Socceroo ended as top scorer with 20 goals. The disruption this year means that concrete interest from richer Japanese and Chinese clubs could never really get off the ground.
FC Seoul recovered from recent ― and relative ― doldrums to finish third last season. Back in the Asian Champions League, the return of former goal-scoring hero Adriano will be of interest. Pohang Steelers finished fourth but seem unlikely to be able to really challenge for the top spot.
Despite Jeonbuk's dominance, the K-League has been unpredictable of late. Teams like Jeju United and Gyeongnam FC that have challenged at the top one year in 2018 were relegated last season. The likes of Daegu FC and Gangwon FC, who finished in the top half of the league last year, should be careful ― or should be brave and go for a title challenge.
At the moment, these seem mere details. The important thing is that soccer is back and that is all South Korea, and the rest of the world, needs to know right now.