Jeju United Vs Seongnam Ilhwa Preview

Seongnam Ilhwa Vs Jeju United - 3pm, Sunday, 30th August 2009 (Jeju Athletics Stadium)

Jeju will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to nine league games by beating Seongnam in a play-off six pointer. The islanders have an atrocious record against Seongnam however will take comfort from the fact that the visitors have won just one away game all season.

Seongnam traditionally occupy the upper echolons of the K-League but have had a poor season by their standards. Whilst in recent weeks they have shown signs of improvement, in their last K-League outing they were surprisingly beaten at home by Daejeon Citizen - a poor result for the play-off challengers.

Whilst being unpredictable, Seongnam still have plenty of quality and Jeju will need to play at their best if they are to take the three points. A win though could move them up to 4th in the table and seven points clear of the visitors.

Previous meetings:
Jeju have a dismal record against Seongnam in the K-League – they have failed to win and only achieved two draws in the last 3 years:

26th April 2009 - Seongnam Ilhwa 2-0 Jeju United
23rd Aug 2008 – Seongnam Ilhwa 0-0 Jeju United
29th Mar 2008 – Jeju United 0-3 Seongnam Ilhwa
8th Aug 2007 – Seongnam Ilhwa 2-0 Jeju United
10th Mar 2007 – Jeju United 1-2 Seongnam Ilhwa
29th Oct 2006 – Seongnam Ilhwa 3-3 Jeju United
5th May 2006 – Jeju United 0-1 Seongnam Ilhwa

TEAM NEWS
Coming Soon

Keep an eye out for:
Australia born Saša Ognenovski (4) joined Seongam over the winter and has since been called up to the Macedonian national squad.

Cho Dong Keon (18)has scored five goals this season and made his debut for the Korean national team this summer against Paraguay.

Mauricio Molina (11) is a regular in the Colombian national team.
Goalkeeper Jung SungRyong (1) is a regular in the Korean national team.

Bet365.com Odds
Jeju - 13/8 (2.62)
Draw - 11/5 (3.20)
Seongnam - 6/4 (2.50)

Jeju avenge Peace Cup defeat to extend unbeaten run to eight league matches.

Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i 1-2 Jeju United

Highlights video: http://www.jeju-utd.com (Internet Explorer Only)

After two disappointing 0-0 draws against Gyeongnam and Daegu, Jeju resumed their challenge for a play-off position with a superb 2-1 victory at Ulsan. The result leaves the islanders in seventh position, four points clear of Seongnam in 8th. With early season high flyers Gwangju in apparent free fall, United will be becoming more and more confident that they can secure a shock top six finish.

Cho Jin Su started for Ulsan against his old club and should have put his new club in front early on when he was left unmarked ten yards out. Fortunately for Jeju the striker entirely missed the ball and fell to the ground in the process. Jeju breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the visitors though who enjoyed the bulk of possession and a deserved lead arrived on 14 minutes with Oh Seung Beom drove home a superb shot from 25 yards in to the far corner of the net. Goalkeeper Kim Young Kwang was powerless as he watched the ball go in.

With chances few and far between the half looked to be heading towards a 1-0 finish, yet Oveira had other plans when with a superb piece of skill on 35 minutes he found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, whom he calmly slotted the ball over. It was a superb effort which gave Jeju a 2 goal half time lead.

The second half was a dull affair with Jeju sitting back and defending. Ulsan struggled to find a way past Jeju's impressive defence and only managed to do so deep in to injury time when Lee Jin Ho headed home a late cross. By this stage it was too late for the home side and Jeju eased to a comfortable victory.

With a fully fit squad available Jeju have gone eight games unbeaten. The next match on Sunday will be key as the islanders welcome Seongnam to Jeju Athletics Stadium in a play-off six pointer. Should Jeju take the three points they will become favourites to clinch a top six finish. Whatever happens though, United should enjoy a higher finish than last season's tenth position.

K-League Table

Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
01 FC Seoul 19 12 3 4 34 17 17 39
02 Pohang 19 8 9 2 33 22 11 33
03 Jeonbuk 18 9 5 4 36 24 12 32
04 Incheon 18 8 6 4 22 21 1 30
05 Gwangju 19 9 2 8 25 19 6 29
06 Chunnam 18 7 6 5 31 30 1 27
--------------------------------------------
07 Jeju 19 7 6 6 18 21 -3 27
08 Seongnam 18 6 5 7 21 21 0 23
09 Gangwon 18 6 5 7 32 35 -3 23
10 Daejeon 19 5 8 6 19 23 -4 23
11 Busan 19 5 6 8 24 27 -3 21
12 Suwon 19 5 6 8 16 20 -4 21
13 Ulsan 19 4 7 8 21 24 -3 19
14 Gyeongnam 19 3 10 6 15 21 -6 19
15 Daegu 19 1 6 12 14 36 -22 9

August Update

After a long summer vacation I'm finally getting back in to the swing of things, normal service will be resumed from Monday with a report on Jeju United's game at Ulsan. From then on there will be full previews and match reports from all Jeju's remaining games this season.

United are now seven league games unbeaten. The side will be worried however by their inability to score goals as both league games this month against 14th placed Gyeongnam and bottom of the table Daegu have ended 0-0.

Highlights Videos (Internet Explorer Only)
Gyeongnam FC V Jeju United
Jeju United V Daegu FC

K-League Table
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
01 FC Seoul 18 11 3 4 31 17 14 36
02 Jeonbuk 17 9 5 3 35 21 14 32
03 Pohang 18 7 9 2 30 21 9 30
04 Gwangju 18 9 2 7 24 17 7 29
05 Incheon 17 7 6 4 20 20 0 27
06 Chunnam 17 6 6 5 29 29 0 24
--------------------------------------------
07 Jeju 18 6 6 6 16 20 -4 24
08 Seongnam 17 6 5 6 20 19 1 23
09 Gangwon 18 6 5 7 32 35 -3 23
10 Busan 18 5 6 7 23 24 -1 21
11 Suwon 18 5 6 7 15 18 -3 21
12 Daejeon 18 4 8 6 17 22 -5 20
13 Ulsan 18 4 7 7 20 22 -2 19
14 Gyeongnam 18 2 10 6 12 20 -8 16
15 Daegu 18 1 6 11 14 33 -19 9

Jeju United July Overview

Taken from my article in the Jeju Weekly at www.jejuweekly.com

Jeju United’s cup dreams shattered but league form excites

Jeju United’s punishing July schedule came to an end on Saturday with a pulsating 1-0 win over Suwon in Seogwipo. The result was sufficient to move the side into a play-off position in the top six of the league table. Despite now having gone five league games without defeat, the month has also held some disappointment as the club was eliminated from both the FA and Peace Cups.

On 15th July, United welcomed high flying Jeonbuk Hyundai to World Cup Stadium for their FA Cup quarter-final. Having already suffered a 5-0 home defeat at the hands of the side currently second in the K-League, Jeju was clearly nervous and was soon a goal down thanks to a Ha Dae-Sung strike. Things went from bad to worse when Lee Hyun-Seung made it two with United appearing to be heading out of the cup without a whimper. Just when it appeared to be all over, suddenly the home side started to attack with more purpose and pulled a goal back on 65 minutes thanks to Gu Ja-Cheol before Oveira scored an unlikely equalizer. It was a valiant fight back from Jeju who forced the game into extra-time. Unfortunately the team tired and appeared to lack the fitness levels necessary for 120 minutes of football. Jeonbuk’s superior players were able to take advantage of this as they finished the game 5-2 winners, clinching a place in the FA Cup semi finals.

Fanatical Jeju United fan Anna Montoya agreed that the side’s fitness levels were a key factor in the FA Cup defeat, stating that “Jeju started and finished the game sluggishly. They had a burst of energy after the first goal which raised their level of play enough to score the equalizer. The rain and humidity seemed to challenge their fitness level once we entered overtime.”

Jeju then had a mountain to climb if it was to qualify for the semi-finals of the Peace Cup (also known as the Korean League Cup). On July 22nd, the side entered the second leg of its quarter final against Ulsan needing a victory of two goals or more after having lost the first leg 1-0 in Seogwipo. Victory was always going to be difficult, however the club will have been disappointed to have lost the game 4-1, going out of the cup 5-1 on aggregate.

United will now be concentrating solely on the K-League and has ended the month on an impressive run of form winning both of their final two league games in July. Jeju secured a shocking 1-0 win at third position Gwangju Sangmu and then beat Suwon at home by a similar score to secure a top six position. This will qualify Jeju for this year’s play-offs if they can hold on to it.

Hardcore Jeju United fan Robin Burgess was cautious yet optimistic about the club’s prospects, saying: “if we can keep getting results when not playing particularly well against opposition who create more than us (Busan springs to mind!) then we've definately got a chance at making the playoffs. But as its such a tight and unpredictable league its far from guaranteed. A few more people making attacking runs INTO the box, rather than round it, couldn’t hurt our chances either.”

One thing is for certain as Jeju enter the final half of the season – every match is going to be vital.

Highlights Videos (Internet Explorer Only)

Jeju United V Jeonbuk (FA Cup)

Jeju United V Chunnam (K-League)

Gwangju V Jeju United (K-League)

Ulsan V Jeju United (Peace Cup QF 2nd Leg)

Jeju United V Suwon (K-League)