Groundhopping in Korea: A Lingard-less FC Seoul
Fans sing the team anthem before the match.
When Jesse Lingard, a former Manchester United star, signed with K-League club FC Seoul, I was intrigued by the prospect of experiencing a Korean football match. This curiosity was one of the reasons I wanted to visit the Korean capital and plan a trip to coincide with one of Lingard's matches. Earlier this month, my family and I were in town, and as fate would have it, Lingard’s new club had a home match scheduled against Gimcheon Sangmu on Wednesday, April 4th.
Players from FC Seoul prepare for their match against Gimcheon Sangmu.
Attending Korean sporting events can be a challenge, especially if you're unfamiliar with the language and the ticketing process. However, I was fortunate to find Jin, a local who offers AirBnB experiences at sporting events in Seoul, including FC Seoul matches. Jin not only provided the tickets but also took us to dinner before the match, and bought snacks or beer during the game. His local knowledge and hospitality made the experience even more enjoyable. Without him, I would likely have missed this opportunity to immerse myself in Korean football culture.
Unfortunately, Lingard was injured and didn’t make the matchday roster. He’s had a little difficulty acclimating to the new environment. The manager hasn’t been pleased with his commitment. He commented that he was considering benching Lingard altogether as his work rate was suspect and the former Manchester United star didn’t perform like a team player. The writing was on the wall, and I may have missed seeing him play even before he was injured.
The fact that the former England international wasn’t on the field didn’t take away from the experience. Jin played the wonderful and gracious host as he met me–along with the others who signed up–at a metro stop a stone’s throw from FC Seoul’s home park, the Seoul World Cup Stadium. He walked us to a local fried chicken joint and gave us a rundown of the local club and their opponents.
Gimcheon Sangmu is the military’s team, filled with professionals who have opted to do their military service with the team instead of the more traditional experience. They were top of the table at kick-off, but as you can imagine, their setup leads to varying degrees of success from season to season.
FC Seoul is one of the more popular clubs in Korea and has a legacy of success in the K-League. However, the club’s standing has declined over the last few years. Since winning the league in 2016, they have been, at best, also-rans.
The passion of the fans was palpable. From the moment we entered the ground until well after the final whistle, the Suhoshin, the name given to the hardcore fan group situated in the North Stand, never stopped singing. They were the embodiment of the 90-minute mentality and would give any set of supporters the world over a run for their money. Of course, having a roof at the ground helps.
FC Seoul celebrates their fifth goal of the match.
The match itself was a thrilling encounter. It was not a well-balanced slugfest, but it was one of those lopsided matches where nearly every attack by one side led to a goal. FC Seoul raced ahead, ending the first half with a lead of 4-0. Counterpressing and well-worked combination play put the home team in front. They would end up winning 5-1, which for the neutral fans meant walking home with something to talk about, even if only one of the goals happened at the end where we were seated.
We sat only a handful of rows from the field. While it was nice to get a feel for the stadium’s ambiance, even with it roughly half full, it was tough to get a decent feel for the flow of the match. I like sitting up a bit higher to observe the tactical chess match. Seeing the shape of each during various phases helps me get into the game a bit more. From what I could tell, the home team played a form of a 4-3-3 when attacking, though the midfield three was almost flat, which was an odd thing to watch. But when they fell back into defense, they shifted to a 4-4-2. And the two center backs were almost on top of each other more times than one should reasonably expect.
When it comes to quality of play, it wasn’t all that dissimilar to what I’ve seen at Beijing Guoan matches. The speed of play and the physicality were below the standards you can find at the top level of football–including the MLS. For the Koreans, this scenario likely stems from their best talent leaving well before making an impact on the league.
Undoubtedly, the experience of attending an FC Seoul match was unique and exclusive. I would do it again in a heartbeat and likely in the same exact way–through an AirBnB experience hosted by Jin. I highly recommend it. He does this for other sports, too.