A Monday Evening in Seoul
The Seoul–Hwacheon match on 26 June has been rescheduled because it clashes with a Women’s Korea Cup match. How was there a clash in the early rounds when they know which teams were playing and on which dates? It has little impact on me, but I can’t help wondering what is happening in the football federation’s scheduling department.
Before the match I have to get something to eat, of course. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that is both quick and cheap, so I settle for some cold takoyaki. I would not recommend it.
Before heading to the stadium, I try to sneakily heat my food at the GS25. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, there are two workers there today, and one of them seems intent on standing next to the microwaves. He isn’t doing anything there. He is just standing. With my cold and unappetising takoyaki, I arrive at the stadium earlier than usual so I can watch the players warm up.
Once my squid balls are finished, I open one of the snacks. It isn’t exactly what I expect. The bag is filled with individually wrapped chocolate cookie-ball thingies.
Also, I’m not Korean, so “I don’t know the local customs” and happily share the snacks. Wink.
As we get closer to kick-off, both sides of the stadium start to fill up. Once again, the away side has almost as many spectators as the home side. It’s Monday evening. Where are they all coming from? Surely they aren’t driving here from Hwacheon with their children. Hwacheon is three hours away.
As a side note, a few weeks later one of my students was wearing a Hwacheon replica shirt. I’m not sure why, because she usually walks around in a Suwon Bluewings shirt. We are within walking distance of the border with Suwon City, after all.
Unfortunately, the shirt seems to be a “women’s size” and is a bit tight on me. That wouldn’t be a problem if I were young with muscles, but I’m old, with a small belly and bad posture. At least the evening is cool enough for me to use the excuse of wearing a normal shirt loosely over the Seoul shirt.
Despite wearing the shirt, I don’t feel like making the effort to put up my banner tonight.
Seoul still has signed balls left, and just before the match they throw them into the stand. A woman who I first noticed about halfway through the season goes to stand by the railing and basically begs them to give her a ball.
To be fair, that is probably the best way to get one. I don’t think the players particularly enjoy having to decide who to throw the balls to every week, and if you take the decision away from them, they’re usually happy to oblige.
When she gets one, she turns around, holds it in the air and roars with delight that she has finally got one. It’s funny, but I also share her happiness. I was just as happy when I managed to get one earlier in the season.
A Very Defensive Seoul
When the match starts, a few things immediately catch my attention.
Im Seon-ju seems to be lined up as a forward. I think I have seen her in almost every position on the field during the season: back to front, left, right and centre.
The match goes about as expected. Hwacheon dominates for most of the game, but Seoul puts on an amazingly gritty defensive performance. Hwacheon even goes so far as to change to a formation that looks like it has four forwards.
The Player of the Match and Queen of the Round nominee is rightfully Seoul defender number 27, Lee Chae-yun. Between her getting a foot in the way and the goalkeeper getting a hand in the way of goal attempts, Seoul somehow manages to prevent Hwacheon from scoring even a single goal.
Speaking of the goalkeeper, she is having another rough night. She needs medical attention on three occasions. First, she takes a goalpost to the face. Then she takes a sliding boot, or maybe a leg, to the face. Finally, what looks like it might be an elbow to the back comes from one of her own teammates.
During half-time, Incheon Man’s favourite player is substituted. She has been struggling with the same injury for most of the season and can rarely play a full match.
Tonight, though, I don’t think she needs an injury as an excuse. She put in a huge defensive performance against Hwacheon’s attacks down the left flank, particularly with Jeong Ji-yeon, Asuna and Ui Wae-eun.
Of course, after the match, the Seoul players go and sit on the pitch, followed by a team meeting. While they are doing that, I tell Incheon Man how annoyed I’m getting, especially as we’re watching Hwacheon’s players leave the field and, before doing anything else, thank their fans.
After standing there for several minutes, I decide I’m only making myself angry, so I leave.
I have no idea if, or when, they eventually come over to thank their waiting supporters.
More Schedule Changes
Sometime during the following week, Seoul announces that its Round 28 match against Hwacheon has been rescheduled.
The schedule for the upcoming Asian Champions League matches has been released, and this helps alleviate fixture congestion for Hwacheon.
Last season, the Champions League was changed to run during the Korean winter. This is rather annoying because Japan is the only major league that runs during the winter. Sure, Australia is considered a major league, but they are in the other hemisphere, so technically they also play over the summer months.
Even among the minor leagues, winter seasons are rare.
Anyway…
The match is rescheduled to the day before the Chuseok holiday. That would normally not be a problem, but the 16:00 kick-off definitely is. Just… why?
I have intended to attend every single home match this season, if I could. Until this happened, I was well on my way to keeping that promise. If I go to the match after work today, I’d be lucky to see the final ten minutes.
So there I am, sitting at work and watching the first 20 minutes of the match until it’s time to head home.
Hwacheon looks strong and manages to score early. It doesn’t look like Seoul has much of a chance. But when I arrive home about 50 minutes later, Seoul has equalised. For the remaining 30 minutes, I watch Seoul once again absorb pressure and, against all expectations, draw with the second-strongest team in the league.
Even a single win from the remaining three matches could see Seoul in with a chance at the playoffs. Who would have thought?
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