FC Seoul'ed Out

In all of our travels to watch Daejeon Citizen FC - from Seongnam in the North to Gwangju in the South, Jeonju in the West to Daegu in the East - we've really failed to take advantage of the Daejeon Citizen Supporters' Bus. This was rectified for our trip to Seoul, as my usual football cohorts Lon and Lisa joined me, along with new recruit A.J.

The bus has several advantages. One, it goes directly from Daejeon World Cup Stadium to the away ground. Two, it comes with it the hope, however faint, of running into the players' bus at a rest stop. Most importantly, it's dirt cheap. Round-trip transportation and a ticket to the game was only ₩20,000 - less than the cost of a one-way KTX ticket. It was such a good deal that we could forgive the driver for meandering aimlessly through the streets of Seoul for no reason.

Seoul World Cup Stadium is an impressive venue, as you would expect of a 68,000 seat arena that hosted a World Cup Semi-Final. Despite its size, the layout of the stadium is excellent, making you feel very close to the field. As befits the top team in the K-League, even the food was superior, with chicken tenders a glorious addition to the usual ramen and Pringles in Daejeon.

The stadium and the team should speak for itself, but in their wisdom FC Seoul decided to inundate the audience with a barrage of s****y Asian 80's style death metal guitar and an P.A. system so loud that it will make you think you've angered God. Even more irritating was the fireworks show that we were treated to at the beginning of the game and every time Seoul scored. On the plus side, their opening video montage included clips of former FC Seoul player and current Bolton Wanderers hero-du-jour Lee Chung-Yong.

It didn't take long for Seoul to prove their superiority. After 6 minutes, a Daejeon defender dithered in clearing the ball, allowing a Seoul player to get a shot away. The ball hit the post and unluckily rebounded off Choi Eun-Sung, allowing Jung Jo-Gook to tap in easily. Daejeon responded positively, but in general took too long before shooting. The game was over as a contest just before half-time, as Jung Jo-Gook again took advantage of slack marking to head home from a free-kick. Ko Chang-Hyun came close to pulling one back with a trademark free kick, but Lee Sang-Hyup added a third for FC Seoul after 75 minutes with a powerful half-volley.

We went home disappointed, and sadly without the consolation of meeting the players again.

Pictures.

Game highlights.