blogging it real

Here's where I went on Saturday. (If you are wondering why the match report is so dodgy it's cos I wrote it. I now have the experience of two hastily prepared internet match reports under my belt).

Missed Chances Leave Seoul Waiting for Win
FC Seoul 0-0 Chunnam Dragons

FC Seoul players and supporters will tonight be wondering how on earth they failed to put the ball in the back of the net during the second half of their match against Chunnam Dragons at Sangam Stadium today. With the 0-0 result, all FC Seoul have to show after their first three matches are three competition points from their third consecutive draw. But after making most of the play in the second half and hitting the post twice from golden opportunities they will be rueing a match which could have kick-started their season.

The first half was a fairly even affair with both teams trading light punches throughout with Chunnam looking a little more dangerous moving forward. Their prolific Brazilian goal scorer Itamar was showing his usual fancy touches and was receiving plenty of ball from his teammates. However the match followed the general K-League formula of each team connecting for a couple of passes before sloppy work or tight defending saw possession handed over. Both sides occasionally found their way near enough to goal to force saves from the keeper or send shots wide but generally they were closed down once inside the penalty area by tight defending.

The second half saw a big shift of momentum FC Seoul's way as Chunnam appeared to lose their spark in the midfield and Itamar and his striking partners Nam Ki-il and Mota had few opportunities to speak of. At the other end however Seoul were increasingly forcing the Chunnam defense to scramble back as Kim Eun-jung began to find space. One of Seoul's earlier chances came when the ball rebounded out to defender Park Jung-seok who unleashed a 117km/hr shot (according to the ground radar) from 30 yards out which scraped by the right post. From the resulting corner Renaldo fired a clear shot straight at the keeper and their chances were to continue.

However it wasn't until near the end of the game that the two best chances of the game occurred. Valentin was put into a one on one situation with Chunnam keeper Kim Young-kwang who had come off his line to cut down the angle. All Valentin had to do was lob a 'regulation' chip from a bouncing ball over Kim but both the Brazilian and the crowd looked on in amazement as the ball landed gently on the crossbar and bounced clear.

Then in injury time Kim Eun-jung had his own one on one with the keeper who had again come off his line to cut the angle. Kim's diving poke at the ball beat the keeper and the crowd, and probably most of the players waited for the ball to roll into the net, only to see it hit the inside half of the right post and roll out in front of the goal mouth before a desperate defender fired it over the bye-line. Seconds after the corner was taken the final whistle blew and several players lay prone on the ground as much in disbelief as in tiredness.

For FC Seoul it was two lost points they will surely be rueing for quite some time while Chunnam will probably just be glad to be heading back to Gwangyang with one point in the bag and sitting in 5th place, four points behind leaders Pohang. (24/4/04)

** I should add that I despise FC Seoul and all that they stand for. They are owned by LG and were my team last year before being relocated. May they lose all their games and collapse inside a year!

And on Sunday my footie team managed their first ever win. Yehaaa!