The Korean FA Cup competition will take place between December 14th and 25th, with the final on Christmas Day. The tournament will be in Namhae, Tongyong, Haman, Masan, Changwon, Yangsan and Gimhae, with Changwon holding the final. There are 31 teams in the competition after someone withdrew, so Cheonbuk Motors (as holders) get a bye in the first round. First Round Draw Top Half Aju University v Bundang Joma Cheonbuk Motors - bye Hongik University v Busan I'cons Suwon Bluewings v Jeonju University Konguk University v Jaenung Education Hallelujah v Daegu FC Incheon United v KNR Gangneung v Ulsan Horang-i First Round Draw Bottom Half Goyang KB v Hangmin University Chunnam Dragons v Ulsan Mipo Dockyard Kyunghee University v Daejeon Citizen Seongnam Chunma v Suwon City Hall Yongin City v Gwangju Sangmu FC Seoul v Paju Bumwoo Dongui University v Pohang Steelers Bucheon SK v Myungji University ----------------------------------------------- The full draw is seeded - the teams in the adjacent positions above will play each other until only one is left from either half. This is a picture map of the draw in Korean.
Just to compound a horrible couple of days for Pohang, they've gone out of the FA Cup to a University side ------------------------- Early first round results: Tuesday 14th December Busan I'cons 4-0 Hongik University Jaenung Education 1-0 Konkuk University Goyang Koomin Bank 3-1 Hanmin University Gwangju Sangmu 9-0 Yongin City Hall Pohang Steelers 0-1 Dongui University Into extra time/penalties: Incheon United 1-1 Korea National Railroad Into second half: Daejeon Citizen 1-0 Kyunghee University
First Round Results Aju University 5-0 Bundang Joma Busan I'cons 4-0 Hongik University Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2-1 (aet) Jeonju Uni Daegu FC 1-3 Gimpo Hallelujah Jaenung Education 1-0 Konkuk University Goyang Kookmin Bank 3-1 Hanmin University Chunnam Dragons 1-0 Ulsan Mipo Dockyard Gwangju Sangmu 9-0 Yongin City Hall FC Seoul 10-1 Paju Bumwoo Dongui University 1-0 Pohang Steelers Bucheon SK 3-1 Myungji University Korea National Railroad 1-1 (5-4 pens) Incheon United Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i 3-1 Gangneung City Hall Daejeon Citizen 4-1 Kyunghee University Suwon City Hall 3-1 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma That's Pohang, Daegu, Incheon and Seongnam all out in the first round. The second round (Thursday) looks like this: Top Half Aju University v Cheonbuk Motors Busan I'cons v Suwon Bluewings Jaenung Education v Hallelujah KNR v Ulsan Horang-i Bottom Half Goyang KB v Chunnam Dragons Daejeon Citizen v Suwon City Hall Gwangju Sangmu v FC Seoul Dongui University v Bucheon SK
Seongnam put out pretty much a reserve side: Park Sang-cheol, Kim Sung-il (Shin Dong-kun),l Seo Hyuk-su, Park Woo-hyun, Jeon Kwang-jin, Oh Sung-bum (Kim Do-yong), Kim Cheol-ho, Cha Jong-yoon (Kim Do-hoon), Park Yeong-chul, Jang Hak-young, Marcelo (Lee Ki-hyung) It's quite surprising as if they won the FA Cup then they'd gain entry to the 2005 Asian Champions League... I guess they figured their reserves would take care of the semi-pro side and their main squad would come in for the tougher games against K-League opposition. As for Suwon City Hall, they've got quite a few ex-pros in their squad. Suwon City Hall sponsor the team, so not too many penpushers in it. Ditto Korea National Railroad aren't a bunch of train drivers
With so many pro teams already out, I can't believe the teams were serious about the Cup. I don't follow K-league much so I really don't know if this Cup is of no importance to K1 teams or not. Perhaps, combination of being too confident and not putting too much effort in the tournament?
I think there's a fair amount of money to be won if you lift the FA Cup, as well as getting into the Asian Champions League. Cheonbuk won the Cup last year and they reached the ACL semi-final, and reaching the ACL final this season was worth quite a bit to Seongnam. I would have thought it would have been worth their interests to put a bit more focus on the tournament. Mind you the schedule isn't so great - they're playing pretty much every two days in the morning and early afternoon, so it probably wouldn't be possible to play your best eleven in every game really.
I hope no micky mouse amateur team wins it. They may get embarassed in ACL. However, if an amateur team wins it, I hope it is Hallelujah. I can see Muslim announcers saying Hallelujah thousand times while broadcasting their matches. "Hallelujah have the ball in their middle-field. Hallelujah is subbing a player number 9 with 11. It's Hallelujah's corner kick. Shooooot ..... Hallelujah!" (No offense to our Muslim & Christian members on the board.)
Second Round Results Suwon City Hall 0-2 Daejeon Citizen Korea National Railroad 2-5 Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Busan I'cons 2-1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings Dongui University 1-2 Bucheon SK Goyang Kookmin Bank 0-2 Chunnam Dragons Aju University 0-3 Cheonbuk Hyundai Motors Jaenung Education 1-3 Gimpo Hallelujah Gwangju Sangmu 3-2 FC Seoul I'll get the excuses in for Suwon by saying but for Seo Jung-won on the bench they fielded entirely a reserve team for the second game in a row... Quarter-final draw (for Tuesday 21st December) Top Half Cheonbuk Motors v Busan I'cons Gimpo Hallelujah v Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Bottom Half Chunnam Dragons v Daejeon Citizen Gwangju Sangmu v Bucheon SK
Quarter Final results Daejeon Citizen 1-0 Chunnam Dragons (aet) Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i 5-0 Gimpo Hallelujah Busan I'cons 2-2 Cheonbuk Hyundai Motors (Busan won 6-5 on penalties) Bucheon SK 2-0 Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix Semi Final results Busan I'cons 5-1 Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Bucheon SK 0-0 Daejeon Citizen (Bucheon won 4-2 on penalties) -------------- That means the Christmas Day final will be between Busan and Bucheon, with one of those two unfashionable sides going on to represent Korea in the 2005 Asian Champions League along with Suwon. Just for the record, Busan finished 7th overall in the K-League, with Bucheon dead last (as usual )
im happy for both busan and bucheon.. they were two powerhouses of kleague not too long ago.. i dunno wtf happened to them, especially bucheon..
Jinx again? The results of K-League and FA Cup are usually in inverse proportion to each other. Congrats to Busan and Bucheon.
Well done Busan I'cons, who will be competing in the 2005 Asian Champions League tournament after winning the FA Cup. The 2005 Super Cup will also be between Suwon and Busan.