K League Roundup

The end picture is starting to come into focus for the K League Classic. The first round of the Challenge playoffs was held, who came out on top? And we have a KFA Cup champion! Was it favorites Seoul, or underdog Seongnam?

K League Classic Results

Championship Half
Suwon Samsung 1-2 Jeonbuk Motors
Ulsan Hyundai 0-1 Jeju United

Relegation Half
Gyeongnam FC 0-1 Busan IPark
Jeonnam Dragons 3-1 Sangju Sangmu

Notes

  • Jeonbuk claimed a late winner to put one final stamp on their title season, defeating nearest challengers Suwon 2-1 at the Big Bird.
  • Jeju made one final push to keep, mathematically at least, their AFC Champions League hopes alive as they saw off Ulsan.
  • Busan confirmed their place in the top flight next year as they pushed Gyeongnam back into the relegation mix.
  • Jeonnam came back to life for a game at least to virtually assure a direct return to the Challenge for the army team.

K League Classic Table – Round 37

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K League Challenge – Playoff 1st Round

Gangwon FC 0-1 Gwangju FC

  • More playoff heartbreak for Gangwon. The side was relegated through the playoffs last season, and they failed to use the same medium to achieve promotion this year.
  • Gwangju will advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs (next weekend), where they will take on Ansan Korea Police.

KFA Cup – Final

FC Seoul 0-0 (aet) Seongnam (2-4 PSO)

Photo courtesy of Joy News
Photo courtesy of Joy News
Photo courtesy of Xsports News
Photo courtesy of Xsports News
Photo courtesy of OSEN
Photo courtesy of OSEN

As you can probably tell from the pictures. Seongnam FC defeated FC Seoul 4-2 on penalties to win the 2014 Korean FA Cup. Seongnam will also claim Korea’s fourth AFC Champions League spot, and will participate next season. For Seoul, it means that they must now overhaul Pohang (the two meet midweek) for the last remaining qualification spot for next season.

About Jae Chee 339 Articles
A football fan who got bit by the writing bug.

2 Comments

  1. I thought I might add this in – the KFA cup finals came with a twist at the end. Seoul succesfully subbed off their keeper Kim Yong-Dae for the guy that saved tons of penalties in the KFA Cup, but Seongnam weren’t able to. All they had to do was kick the ball out but Seoul, realising this and being unsportsmanlike, passed the ball around and wasted time, preventing Seongnam’s keeper sub. So, Seongnam’s starting goalie had to do the shootout. Needless to say he did a pretty good job. After the game the keeper who was supposed to be subbed on told media that he told the starting keeper where to dive, and it pretty much worked.

    BTW, Seongnam’s coach trash talked Choi Yong-Soo before the game. When asked if he thought his team would win, and what it meant playing Seoul, a team of such prestige in the finals and what not, he calmly answered. ‘Seongnam has 7 stars. How many does Seoul have?

    • I wouldn’t call what Seoul did “unsporting”. They certainly are not obligated to put the ball out for the opposition to make a tactical change.

      Not much in the way of ‘trash talk’ imo. Didn’t read the quote, but if the reporter asked him that, he was trying to bait him, and I think his answer was pretty good. Although technically Seongnam have zero stars since they were re-formed this year as a citizen club.

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