Sunday sees the biggest regular fixture of the season – the meeting between FC Seoul and Suwon Samsung Bluewings – and if any extra spice was needed then the fact that the two teams occupy the top two spots in the K-League is more than enough.
The corresponding 2007
match at Seoul World Cup satta king result Stadium,
almost exactly a year ago, saw the K-league record attendance smashed as 55,000
people saw the Bluewings win 1-0 – a new record could be set this Sunday.
Winning is a big deal for
both teams and supporters but losing can have consequences too. The result one
year ago stopped a promising Seoul season in its tracks. At the time of the
meeting, Seoul was sitting pretty at the top of the table but after the Suwon
defeat, the capital club failed to win any of its following eight matches and
slid down the table.
For many fans, it is the
first game that they look for when the K-league release the fixture list at the
start of the season. Sure, the media hypes the game to the nth degree but
nobody minds too much as fans and journalists are just happy to have a genuine
big match to talk about and attend.
When LG, or GS as it now
seems to be called, moved Anyang Cheetahs to the capital in 2004 and renamed it
FC Seoul, they broke up the fiercest rivalry in the K-League. Anyang and Suwon
had been going at it for years. The move to the capital was greeted by dismay
by the vast majority of football fans, including those of Suwon, and it is safe
to say that FC Seoul is the most unpopular club in the Land of the Morning
Calm.
Suwon is owned by LG
rivals Samsung but electronic goods will be far from minds when the game kicks
off. The two teams have met already this season in the Hauzen Cup - last
Wednesday, at the same stadium in fact. Suwon won 2-0 with two late goals.
Seoul had chances of its own and frustration boiled over in the very final
seconds of the game.
A late tackle by Seoul’s
Lee Sang-yeob on Song Chong-guk didn’t please the Suwon skipper as soon players
and members of coaching staff from both teams were pushing and shoving as if
their lives depended on it. That was pretty much how the game ended and there
will certainly be no need for pre-match motivational talks on Sunday.
Both teams have started
the season well and have collected ten points from four games. Suwon enjoys a
better goal difference and the team has looked solid and smooth. Only
seven-time champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma has taken points from the Bluewings.
Bearded Brazilian striker Edu has scored four and the defence has been as tight
and expertly marshalled by Croatian Mato Neretljak. Last weekend’s 2-0 win at
the home of a spirited Busan I’Park was a clinical lesson in how to win away
from home.
Seoul hasn’t been as slick
but has picked up points. Last week’s 1-0 victory in Gwangju wasn’t pretty but
it was a battling performance notable for a free-kick special from Park
Chu-young. The young striker is returning to fitness and form and along with
big pre-season signing Dejan Damjanovic, Seoul could soon start to possess a
goal threat that they have lacked for some time.
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