Looked at the fixtures and there were too many games outside of Seoul so the easiest and closest to go to was Incheon; some two hours via Seoul Metro away. Incheon United were playing Daegu FC. Turns out that Australian Nathan Burns plays for Incheon but I didnt see him play; sad that this guy was a promising potential star has now but fallen off the edge of the earth into obscurity. Enough of Nathan, let us get back to the game.
The station was straight forward like most of Seoul's metro stations, you get out via tapping the gate and then you deposit you card in the machine to get your money back for the card. Stepped out at the Stadium was right in front of me some 500 metres away across the road next to the station.
The piazza is something that is like back home in Northbridge but much bigger and with a bit more of a focal axis so people dont really have a sense of aimless walking but to go to the ticket booth, get to the gate watch the game or when the 40-50 level towers go up the east side will look great with bars, shops, street vendors, gym and other hubs of activity to entertain the area.
Walked in and sat in the western stand near the VIP section which was 40 dollars Australian. But I was happy to pay 15 dollars for seats equivalent of the New Jack Marks Grandstand at nib stadium in Perth. The view was fantastic and great value so far.
In true PFF fashion i was running late, this time due to the Metro being rather frustrating and I caught the wrong number one train as it went past the station to change to go towards Incheon but went south so lost 30 minutes waiting and travel.
Drinks were very cheap. They were no more than 2 dollars a bottle and they sold noodles, quid jerky and battered squid and anything else squid related. Now I must confess I am not a fan of seafood, let alone squid so I did avoid this rush on the last of the food. I was queuing up for noodles; Traditional Korean beef noodles but they sold out.
I did see for the benefit of the PFF that the food was no more than 4 dollars each. So I simply cannot fault this place for price.
Home support was very loud despite the crowd being roughly 4,000. They played similar chants that I have heard in the A-League and also in the MLS. Incheon were in the lead 30 minutes in until a goal was scored against the run of play a few minutes before half time.
Second half was very much the same painful end to end stuff of hopelessly missed chances and terrible miss-reading of through ball plays rather much like Perth Glory. One occasion in the 71st minute mark a one on one with the keeper happened with the keeper foolishly bringing down the striker to concede a penalty. Incheon's Brazilian 'marquee' slotted home the penalty to give Incheon the lead for a second time 2-1. The game concluded 2-1 with the heavens opening up and the rain fell heavily reminding me that I must make a hasty retreat back to Seoul to grab something to eat.
All in all great way to sample Korean football, similar to the level in Australia but then again I was watching some mid table sides that were playing incredibly poor style that night. A-League still has a long way to go to be any match to this unpredictable brand.
Looks like the PFF has sadly adopted his K-League side as Itaewon United play in vertical black and blue stripes and play in East Perth colours.
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