Sweet Sweet Smell of Success

FC Seoul rounded off an incredible season by coming from behind (in both legs) to overcome a highly impressive Jeju United side to claim the 2010 K-League Championship. Kim Yong Dae almost ruined the dream with a very scrappy period of play allowing Santos to put the visitors ahead in front of nearly 57,000 fans at Sangam World Cup Stadium. Moments later, the home side had a huge slice of fortune when Jeong Jo Gook won a very questionable penalty and duly dispatched for his 13th of the season. People will talk about the penalty, but Dejan had earlier had a good goal ruled out for offside, so it seemed to balance out.

An FC Seoul win felt inevitable but Jeju continued to threaten and there seemed to be twice as many of them at times as they harried and wouldn't allow us time to settle on the ball. Still, a beautiful Djeparov corner was met by the unmarked Adi and he capped off an incredible season for himself with the Championship winning goal. Jeju had a goal ruled out for a very close (but correct) off-side call and we held on for our first Championship since 2000. It was a brilliant feeling for our little band of loyal supporters who have been there through good times and bad (oh, there has been a lot of bad) since 2007. There are highlights here and a decent (although massively biased) review of the season here.

Next season, a repeat of our Championship win and maybe lift the Asian Champion's League trophy? We'll see. I'll keep an eye on developments over the closed-season but, personally, I'd love to see Djeparov sign on for another season and perhaps a good striker (Yoo Byung Soo from Incheon United?) to lighten the load for Dejan and Jeong Jo Gook. It was a day that was tempered by other things going on behind the scenes, but I know none of us will ever forget being there to watch them take the title. What a game.