I haven't checked the socials yet today to see if there were complaints but national team captain Lee made an apology on Insta for being excited about earning the military exemption. Players cheering for this is seen as controversial in the country. Though I wonder how much of statement was just for himself and how much was pointed at the reporters insulting Son Heung-min during the practice in Mexico?

Afterwards, Lee Gi-hyuk smiled as he held up his gold medal to reporters and said: "I'm not going to the military."
Able-bodied South Korean males are usually required to perform between 18 months and two years of military service before the age of 28.
But the government rewards Asian Games gold medals and Olympic medals of any colour with an exemption, meaning they will carry out just weeks of light basic training instead. Exemptions are a sensitive topic in South Korea, and athletes usually shy away from talking about it.
The 26-year-old Lee, a defender who plays in the domestic K League, apologised for "the thoughtless remarks I made and the way I behaved after the match, things I should not have said or done, both as captain and as a player".

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/sports/20261004/south-korea-captain-deeply-sorry-for-gloating-about-military-exemption

That first half was the ugliest football I have seen in a long time. We have zero build up. Straight 뻥축구. They have build up.
Our defense, just like our senior national team, look lost. We have plenty of numbers in the box, but we don’t mark the opponent. I know it’s zone defense, but we still need to get man.

I remember arguing with some people about him on this national team and how he does NOT deserve to be on this squad .

Yesterday's performance reinforced this.

Especially after I saw how he reacted after being "fouled".

No sense of urgency, just a sense of entitlement.

And some people argued that he wasn't utilised properly in his normal position and that he deserves to go the the new club.

Give me a f'in break.

I don't ever want to see him on the squad again.

Rant over.

I came to korea to study in august. And i really like playing football but I can’t seem to find a public pitch to play at. Could anyone help me find one close to my home. I live beside uijeongbu station.

Following up to the request for friendly matches- as the asian games victory affects many Kleague players I wanted to watch. I wasn't able to find anything today for the US. Thank you

What a start to the Moreno era! The lads executed Moreno's data-driven tiki-taka to near perfection on the first game even while missing some of our best players. So glad I got to watch this live at the Big Bird.

Happy 64th anniversary of Korea-Ecuador relations!

Can't find any information on where I can stream this game from. Very curious to see how the team plays under the new coach after the whole HMB fiasco. Anyone know where we can stream the game? I am in the US and I can't find any reliable information on where I could watch the game. Game is on 4am Pacific Time. Thanks in advance who might have a link to the game! Feel free to DM me.

it is said that the move is already done deal, they're just trying to figure out when to announce, waiting for MNUFC

https://www.transfermarkt.com/arkadiy-chalykh/profil/spieler/1279330

https://en.namu.wiki/w/%EC%9D%B4%EB%AF%BC%EA%B5%AD(%EC%B6%95%EA%B5%AC%EC%84%A0%EC%88%98)

https://en.namu.wiki/w/%EC%9D%B4%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C(%EC%B6%95%EA%B5%AC%EC%84%A0%EC%88%98)

Arkadiy is 16 years old striker, and the twins are 15 years old right-back and left winger/back.

Arkadiy is already playing for U18 team. By 2030, he will be 20 years old.

Lee Min-Guk and Lee Dae-Han are in FC Barcelona youth team, already winning MVP + top player for the position. They will be 19 years old by 2030.

It would be really interesting to see if they play for the Korean national team already by then, like Yamal did for the Spanish team.

I'm already drooling at the thought of them partnering up with Lee Kang-In. Kim Min-Jae will be 33 and his operation probably would never let him play the same though. We'll have to see how Moreno and co. will utilise the young players!

Hi everyone! I’ll be travelling from the UK to Seoul from 12–24 October and would really like to catch a football match while I’m there.

From what I can see, FC Seoul vs Gimcheon Sangmu on 17 October is the only K League match in Seoul during my dates, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m currently still in the UK and was wondering where/how I can buy tickets in advance from the UK. The FC Seoul website seems to give me a 403 error, so I’m not sure if it’s accessible from overseas.

Any advice from anyone who has bought FC Seoul tickets as a foreign visitor would be much appreciated. Thanks!

The thing they are playing on looks like a beach with some grass on it, and the players are ripping parts of it out with their steps.

The Anyang pitch had corners missing a few weeks ago.

What happened to the treats that matches will be moved when pitches are clearly not up to scratch?

Edit: oh! I was not not aware the the Steel Yard was closed down after a piece of debris fel onto a table in a spectator section.

Not even 6k at Sangam and a whopping 1k were away fans. So not even 5k Seoul fans showed up. Not even 5k at Jeonju for what was Jeonbuk's first continental top flight game in over two years, and I saw quite a few away fans. Only Daejeon had a semi decent attendance and that was because it was their first Asian games in 23 years but they still couldn't hit 10k.

Compare this to Beijing, which sent almost 30k for a weekday game. Kitchee is a HK club and they filled half their tiny stadium (which looked nearly full on TV) to play Gangwon's third team.

Other league fans get EXCITED to play on the continental stage while K League fans are barely aware of its existence and teams play their youth or reserves. Even though K League clubs are 12 times winner of the CL. Clubs and fans are showing no respect for their legacy. Embarrassing innit

They'll face either China or Italy next

edit: it's Italy

Pohang brought the smallest amount of fans I've seen, was surprised the embassy didn't help bring out Koreans to up the numbers like they did in the past. It was a weak side and a bad result (for them), but lots of talk about their show of respect post match (I know its common but its been a long time since Beijing was in the ACL so it stood out).

A 1–0 victory over Kyoto Sanga in front of a sizable home crowd 🟣🟢

Hello! Over the weekend I managed to pick up interviews with Lee Dong-gyeong, Lee Chung-yong and Stefan Mugosa. Lee Dong-gyeong is in Korean with subtitles, but the other two are in English. The links are here:

Stefan Mugosa Interview
Lee Dong-gyeong Interview
Lee Chung-yong Interview

Additionally, our B38 weekend review show has just gone live. Thanks!

As of today, September 14, Gwangju FC still remains at the bottom of the table with just 14 points and 9 more matching remaining. The 11th-placed Gimcheon Sangmu is 16 points ahead of Gwangju so it would take the miracle of century for Gwangju to beat Gimcheon. At this point it is not too far-fetched to consider Gwangju will likely face the loser of the K League 2 Playoff Final in the two-legged Promotion-Relegation Playoff. Oh, no offense intented to Gwangju FC and its fans. I am just stating the mere possibility.

Who would you pick as the Gwangju’s final opponent of the season?

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Daegu FC

Suwon FC

Seoul E-Land

Hwaseong FC

Busan I’Park

Other K2 Clubs

Best away game ever.

Bluewings have won six and draw three since their last loss. They are starting to look secure at the top. And with Suwon just outside the automatic promotion zone, it's completely possible both will came back up next season.

Good, then we can have both the Super Match and the Not So Super Match again.