Welcome to Hwa-ting Sports! I am your host Mr. S. Our show focuses on all things Korean sports with irreverent takes and 100% accurate never wrong sports commentary. Special episodes as the need arises, like today. And with that, say it with me, 1-2-3 HWAI-TING!!!
Today on the show, we’re talking about the K-League! The season has started and by the time you listen to this, Round 3 will be taking place this weekend. Why did I wait so long? I consider the first 3 games to really be akin to pre-season and warm-ups. It’s also pretty cold in February so I’m a bit surprised they started this early. The League says it’s due to major international football events this year, including the ACLE Tournament in Saudi Arabia in April, the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA in June, and the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship in Korea in July. Needless to say, the players aren’t fans. See what I did there? *joke sting* So for today, I’m going to go over the teams that went to the playoffs. Let’s find out if any of them will continue their winning ways this season.
Ulsan (they had a lot of transfers of older players) Foreign Players: Forward Yago Cariello, midfielder Matias Lacava, Giorgi Arabize, Gustav Ludwigson, Darjan Bojanic.
Let’s start our talk with last season’s champions, Ulsan HD. Other than Gangwon and Gimcheon, they didn’t have much in the way of strong competition. But this year could be different. A lot of their older players have left, which I believe means they’re going to rely on their youthful players a bit more. These moves could be budget related as younger players kinda means cheaper. Their main foreign players are forward Yago Cariello ranked 7 point, midfielder Matias Lacava rank 6 point 7, Giorgi Arabize ranked 7 point 5, Darjan Bojanic ranked 7 point 3, and Gustav Ludwigson ranked 7 point 1. It appears they’ve kept most of their foreign players but it remains to be seen how the new ones perform. Ludgwigson is 31 and fellow suite Bojanic is 30 and you can expect father time to begin catching up to them. I’m not sold on Ulsan running over the league again this season, but what do you think? Right now their record is 2 and 1.
Gangwon (a huge amount of signings) Foreign players: midfielders Mario Cuze, forward Vitor Gabriel & Franko Kovacevic, defender Mark Tuci
Next is Gangwon FC. They’ve undergone a bit of a roster reshuffle, with 15 players’ loans ending or transferred. Forward Vitor Gabriel ranked 6 point 6 is staying with the team even though there are a lot of free agents out there these days. Franko Kovacevic ranked 6 point 9, midfielder Mario Cuze ranked 7 and a quarter, Romario Blade ranked 7, and defender Kart Tuci ranked 6 point 9 are the other foreign players. I haven’t followed the Chuncheon team well, but I am concerned their recent signings are not going to be enough to really put them into the lead. However, I could be wrong. But I never am *record scratch* oh my wife heard that and she ordered me to say that my predictions should be taken with the entire container of Morton salt *joke sting*. Right now they are knotted up at 3 points.
Gimcheon (Some players leaving in middle of year) No foreign players due to military conscription team.
Gimcheon Sangmu FC is the next top team, and they are a bit of a mystery to predict. They are the military conscription team and their players all belong to other teams. As such, their roster rotates later in the year. If a bunch of their players are going to return to their teams in July, then there’s no telling what their record will be. All of their goalkeepers leave the team in June or October this year. A bunch of their midfielders and their top defender are gon in June too. Sangmu is used to this so I’m not ready to count them out but don’t be surprised if you see them playing well through April and collapse in late July. Right now they’re in the middle of the pack with 3 points.
FC Seoul (They want to win a title this year.) Foreign players: forwards Gbato Seloh Samuel (18yo) & Jesse Lingard, midfielders Alexander Palocevic, Willyan, Lucas Silva, defender Yazan Alarab.
Next up is FC Seoul. They were a middling team for years until last year when they made the playoffs. Fan favorite forward Jesse Lingard is still with them, ranked 7 point 1, and joining him at forward is the Cote D’ Ivorie teenager Gbato Seloh Samuel. This is Gbato’s first contract so we’ll see how he lives up to the pressure of a team pushing for its first title in a long time. Midfielders Alexander Palocevic ranked 7 point 2, Willyan ranked 6 point 6, Lucas Silva ranked 6 point double 8, and Defender Yazan Alarab ranked 7 round out the other foreign players. FC Seoul’s coach believes they can win it all this year, but…. I get the sense it’s wishful thinking. I’ve seen Willyan bounce around the league a lot so here’s hoping he’s found where he really wants to be. Right now they’re at the bottom of the table but they’ve only played twice.
Suwon FC (not many transfers but they lost Lachlan) Foreign players: forwards Pablo Sabbaq & Anderson Oliveira, midfielders Mohamed Ofkir, defender Leroy Abanda.
Let’s take a look at Suwon FC. They lost Lachlan to Melbourne, but gained forwards Pablo Sabbaq ranked 6 point 9 and Anderson Oliveira ranked 7 point 2, midfielder Mohamed Ofkir ranked 6 point 9 8, and defender Abanda ranked 6 point 6. Oliveira has a lot of potential and Abanda has time to improve. I believe this team could give Ulsan and Gangwon serious competition. But right now, they’re at the bottom of the table but I believe they’ll recover.
Pohang Steelers (middling performance in Elite, lots of departures but not Foreign players) Foreign players: forwards Jorge Teixeira, midfielders Juninho Rocha, defenders Wanderson & Jonathan Aspropotamitis
And finally we have the Pohang Steelers. I thought for sure they would overtake Ulsan but they ran into the wood chipper. I guess steel does melt under pressure *joke sting*. Ohhh I’m gonna get flagged for that. Now it should be noted they won the Korea Cup last year, beating Ulsan to do it. Anyway, they’re getting an influx of young talent so that should backstop them if they lose any ket pieces to injury or military service. They gained midfielders Juninho Rocha ranked 7 point 3, defenders Wanderson ranked 7 point 2 & retained Jonathan Aspropotamitis ranked 6 point 7. Midfielder Oberdan Aliongo ranked 7 point 2 is also staying with the team. I get the feeling that Pohang wants to keep these players to be competitive in the AFC Champions Elite and the K-League as well. It’ll be an interesting year for them, and probably a successful one. Right now they’re at the bottom of the table so it’s not a great start for them.
Now we go to the bottom of the table and look at newly promoted team FC Anyang. How will FC Anyang do? They brought in some foreign players including Biasi from Jeonnam. Thomas Oude Kotte for defense and he’s pretty good at it according to Sofascore. Most of their departures have been scrubs or benchies, so I believe they’re going to maintain a good team, especially with the TV money coming in. Anyang is also where the Ice Hockey and basketball teams play, thus making it a very good competitor for sports town status. I wish them the best but I’m not holding out much hope. I don’t think they’ll get relegated but don’t be surprised if they’re in the relegation round.
K League 2:
Chungnam Asan (not many transfers but they brought in a lot of talent)
And now we talk about K-league 2, starting with Chungnam Asan. Asan almost beat Daegu to get into the top flight in the 1 and 1 round. They haven't had many transfers but they lost Rocha. They’ve brought in 3 foreign players including Sato from Japan. Their coach also left to direct the Dragons, but they promoted an assistant so there isn’t too much turmoil there. This season will depend on how well the coach does.
Seoul E-Land
Seoul E-Land used to be bad for years and now they’ve undergone a renaissance. They had a chance to get promoted against Jeonbuk but failed in 2 close games. They lost a lot of players including top player Bruno Silva to the Bluewings. Fortunately, they got a great midfielder in Euller, so we’ll see what happens.
Jeonnam Dragons
The Dragons in Jeonnam are in a tight spot.They’ve got a new manager and coach from Chungnam Asan, released a bunch of players, and brought in two new Brazilians. They love their Brazilian players at Jeonnam so no surprises there. I’m pegging this as a rebuilding year for the Gwangyang side and not expecting much until next year. They tend to be more competitive in the Korea Cup, so if they are not doing well at the start of the season in K2, I expect them to push for the Cup.
Busan I Park
Busan I Park has also undergone some cleanup over the break, though not as dramatic as other teams. They only have 2 foreign players on roster as of this writing but I suspect that will change as the season progresses. It looks like they’re sticking with Coach Cho, since he did carry them into the playoffs. With some of the other top teams regressing, perhaps I Park feels they can get into the playoffs again? We’ll see- I never have good vibes about I Park and unless they get the top seed, I don’t see them succeeding in the playoffs.
Hwaseong FC’s big debut!
Joining the league this year is Hwaseong FC, next to Suwon. They were in K3 last year and got the go-ahead to jump into the pros. To prepare, they hired Dimitri and Vinicius from Brazil. You can’t have a good K League team without a few Brazilians *joke sting*, and journeyman Im Chang-Kyung. This will be an interesting year for the side. I don’t know if they’ll get out of last place, but that will depend on how well Seongnam plays this year. If you’re a big K-league fan, pay a visit to their stadium. Let’s hope they sink some money into it.
Will Incheon UTD recover from getting relegated
And finally today we have to talk about Incheon United. They got automatically relegated to K2 and their fans probably aren’t happy about it. I remember years ago they stormed the field after a tough losing season and demanded changes. Well, they got better recently, even making the playoffs a few times, but it seems bad decisions have caught up to them. Will they rebound and make the playoffs? It’s certainly plausible. The lads at K-League United certainly think so.
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Other story: Some K1 managers are upset about half the table being at risk of relegation which makes it hard for new coaches. But K-League United podcasters say the K2 has such a tough climb to get into K1. How do I feel about it? I’m of the opinion that the skill difference between K1 and K2 is so wide that the harder rise is fair. If you can’t beat a very bad K1 team, then you’re not going to last long in the top flight anyway.
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A few updates on the season we should be aware of. One, AFC quota is abolished, thus allowing 6 foreign players per team in K1 and 5 in K2. K2 usually has a lower budget so that’s not a surprise. They’ve also introduced a home-grown player exception, in which foreign born players under 18 who’ve trained in the domestic youth leagues for 3 seasons can be considered a domestic player. However, teams can only sign one of those players. Also, the league can adjust the schedule of teams competing in the overseas games like the AFC and the Club World Cup without the permission of the opposing team. So let’s say Gwangju FC has a game in Japan on Wednesday but according to the KLeague they have a game against FC Anyang. The league can now shift the schedule around, forcing FC Anyang into a bye week or having them play a team that was originally off, or shifting their game to later in the season. There’s a lot of international club matches these days, especially for Ulsan, so I see why they made this move. But you can expect tension.
Game of the week (Seongnam vs Incheon to find out whether or not either team is good)
There are two games we should pay attention to this weekend. First is Seongnam vs Incheon at Tancheon Stadium. It’s early in the season so I wouldn’t put too much weight on this game, but you will get the idea of whether or not either team has really rebuilt or not over the offseason. I’m of the mind that it will be a close game with Incheon taking the win. The other game is a late season volleyball match between IBK and Korea Expressway at Hwaseong stadium. IBK is holding on to 4th place but Expressway is only a few points behind with 4 matches left in the season. This could be either team’s chance to get into the playoffs!
Worst Persons in the World
You hear that music? Guess what, folks! We’ve got updates! First update is on Lee Hae-in, the skater banned by the KSU over the sexual harassment case in Italy. She is back on the ice. The district court suspended the 3 year ban and allowed her to compete in the 4 Continents event 2 weeks ago. There she got 8th place in total points, while Kim Chae-Yeon won the gold. So she’ll be competing for a while.
Next we got the conclusion of the Hwang Ui-Jo case. He received a 1 year suspended sentence according to reporting from Yonhap news. The court noted that Hwang admitted to his crime and expressed remorse, and that the video was shared on social media through a third party.
And finally the election at the KFA has been resolved. Chung Mong-gyu has won again. That groaning sound in the distance you heard last week was every Red Devils fan reacting to the election. As far the legislature goes, they’ve been busy but eventually they’ll get around to the results of the KFA audit.
Ending
Thanks for tuning in today! We hoped you learned something new about Korean sports like I certainly did! Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in irreverent takes on Korean Sports. Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get. Don’t forget to rate our podcast 5 stars of course. But don’t do it if you don’t like us. You can email the show at hwatingsportspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment on our various podcast sites. Hate mail will be read aloud on special episodes and ruthlessly mocked. Fan mail will be mocked but in a more wholesome way. And speaking of fans, a special shoutout to our listeners in Nashik India, home of the Harihar Fort which totally doesn’t look like the secret temple from the Mortal Kombat movie! Our next episode will be on the 14th of March and we’re talking about how to play sports in Korea! Open up your browsers and get out your 25 year old mouthguard because Coach is putting you in! (Cheering sound) Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! (Cue the music) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast dine at Park’s Monster NYC Pizza in downtown Seosan! Park’s Monster NYC is a generous interpretation of NYC slice pizza. And there isn’t a brand that does it as well as Park’s! Their large and only slightly askew slices come in two styles; burnt or soggy in the middle! Toppings? You will either get too many or not enough and that’s totally your choice!
Notes
Free goal sound by freesound_community at Pixabay.
https://www.sofascore.com/tournament/football/south-korea/k-league-1/410#id:70830
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2025/03/600_392243.html
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2025/02/600_392804.html
https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-sports/2025/02/26/6YBH5SWRNNE6JAV67DZTCV7MO4/