The #KLeagueFM18 Challenges: Citizens Unite - Season Two Part 5 (It's Coming Home Special)

With England's penalty heroics still fresh in the minds, can we do one better and beat Jeonbuk in the fourth round of the FA Cup. After the last six games being 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. We head into this game with patchy form to say the least. The 7-1 loss at the start of the season still raw we look to redeem ourselves with a big home cup tie against the giant that is Jeonbuk. Will there be cup heroics or another embarrassing performance verses the Wookie.



Catch Up On Season Two -  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

FA Cup

This is it the start of the competition that I've been truly waiting for, after last season heroics took us all the way to the Quarter Finals, only to lose to eventual cup winners Pohang Steelers 3-1. All thoughts are on this season doing one better and at least getting to the semi's. 

The Sangju loss might have affected our morale, but the players who remain from last year are pumped up knowing how special winning this cup is to me. Being that we have a whole 2 week period before the cup match, we spend it 50/50 learning how to be defensively organised and how to take advantage of set pieces.

Last time we played Jeonbuk we got taught a harsh lesson, we are not good enough. However, you don't need to be good enough if you have enough discipline and organisation just look at the Russian's or the Swedish. The fear of facing 5 goal scorer Wookie is still a concern but with reports that he's injured his arm at the gym. We look even more motivated than before. 

Players to watch

Jeonbuk have made a few signings since our last encounter, 17 year old Anyang kid, Moon Sang-Wook or "Little Wookie" as I've affectionately called him. Is reportedly going to be starting at attacking mid for Jeonbuk. He's quick, agile and got a great attacking presence like a younger Lee Jae-Sung. He's the main danger man but with his age and Yo Ho-Jun being told to mark him out of the game we are hopeful of destroying the little bright spark. 

Cho Hyun-Woo is a question in goal for Jeonbuk, allegedly he has got tired from ACL duty, so he might be stepping down for this match. It'll be a huge help if he's not playing as the Korean shot stopper impressed in a certain cup format recently...so let's hope not again. 

Match Day

The match is a near sell out (relative to normal) with a mighty 6,132 Daejeon fans and 3,273 Jeonbuk fans making the trip to watch a hopefully action packed first round of the FA Cup. The build up to the game, I actually appeared at a press conference begging for fans to come and for Cho Hyun-Woo not to start...It looks like both my pleas were answered!

The Jeonbuk team is near unrecognizable to that of the first game of the season, they're really focusing on the ACL and the league after Jeju's domination in both. They might think they can come here and 7-1 us little minnows again but today will be different. 

The weird Jeonbuk line up, featuring a pacey left winger.. Oh no wait It's Lee Dong-Gook at 39. 

Kick Off

Our Daejeon side remain pretty much unchanged apart from Rae-Se solidify his place in the starting eleven after his great 4 goal haul in the last FA Cup run, Moon Chang-Hyun is preferred up front, and the normal back four and goalkeeper remain even after the calamity that was Sangju away.  

With the game about to kick off and the over 9,000 fans at the Daejeon stadium cheering, I quickly have to shout at the players to remember not to try the offside trap, not again guys...not again. 

The game starts just how we planned with Oh Ban-Suk launching a ball high over the Jeonbuk back line for our pace machines to chase, if Chan-Hee had seen the pass a slight bit faster he might of reached it but it just got chested back to the Jeonbuk keeper before he could nip in for the instant impact. It's positive signs though at least they're listening to the game plan!

The following twenty minutes are flying by with little to no action on the pitch, hopefully the 9k fans haven't got bored because we could really do with the match day revenue. Jeonbuk are playing counter football and we are playing hoof it counter football it's causing a real quality problem. 

I take everything I said about affectionately calling him the little wookie, he's the devil child. Moon Sang-Wook for Jeonbuk collects the ball on the edge of the box and decides to chip it even with 2 Daejeon defenders nearby, it somehow alludes them and a terrible goalie error makes it 1-0 in the 35th. 

A routine save for Su-Hyun ends up in despair as 'Little Wookie' makes it 1-0.

We haven't looked poor in this game by any account but after that simple error and defensive switch off we find ourselves again losing to Jeonbuk. The stadium has gone eerily quiet and even though it's the 35th minute I think people are already switching to the baseball.

Half time approaches and it's time for the Ferguson treatment, although I know that it's the system that's stopping the players from being creative. We can't just go out of the cup this easily, we have failed to really test the keeper. It goes against all my coaches opinions and my scout reports but we are switching back to the normal Daejeon way. 

Play-maker Kim Hee-Su is being brought on, we switch back to the normal in a line 3 center midfield and we are going to push for it, so what if we lose 7-1! at least we would score. It's all Jeonbuk highlights with counter after counter, but the possession stat is starting to creep up for us, with our wide men being told to stay wide and short overlaps, we are advancing more in the game. 

Penalty!!! Hwang In-Beon wonder boy, has been dragged down like Gerrard in 2005, his theatrical dive into the box doesn't go unmissed but with no VAR in the cup. It's a penalty for Daejeon in the 71st! Up steps Moon Chang-Hyun with a chance of leveling the game for extra time. It's the worst penalty you're ever likely to see, but it's somehow crept into the bottom corner for 1-1!!!!

The 6,000 fans are going crazy with singing "It's coming home". I'm with them this time it's our year, Pohang last year was just a blip. 

The rest of the game goes by without a trace to mention, Lee Dong-Gook is unsurprisingly not doing well at left wing, his pace can't get him past Chan-Hee. We head into extra time with subs coming through. Youngster Kang Yun-Seong is making his way on for Chan-Hee who yes can take penalties but with a game in four days we do need to consider the league at least a little bit. 

Extra time and penalties 

With an extra time that had less highlights than the end of Japan verses Poland, we somehow have managed to find ourselves in a shoot out position with Jeonbuk. The Jeonbuk B team held all of our attacks in the extra time by simply keeping the ball, I don't think we even touched the ball for the 30 minutes. If I knew they were doing that I would of kept Chan-Hee on. 

First up for Daejeon is Hwang In-Beon, he looks calm as he walks up and with little talking he places the ball in the bottom corner for 1-0. Lee Dong-Gook is up next and with the pace of a aging snail he puts the ball down and powers it into the corner for 1-1. Late substitute Park Dae-Hoon is taking our second and with a run up that came from outside of the box he smashes it home for 2-1. 

Pressure is on Jeonbuk's Choi Jin-Soo, wild celebrations at the Daejeon end who think it's been saved but the net ripples as it just has enough power to beat Su-Hyun's fingertips. Next up is Kim Hee-Su with the penalty of the penalties so far, he didn't waste no time before even running up it felt like it was in the back of the net 3-2!.

It's SAVED! Ko Mu-Yeol for Jeonbuk tries to dink it in the middle and Su-Hyun makes the save, what a time for showboating, it's 3-2 Daejeon with massive advantage and big man Gwan-Pyo to step up. Cool as you like and with a Alan Shearer hand in the air celebration Gwan-Pyo has put one foot in the door for the next round it's 4-2!!!!!!

Shin Hyung-Min steps up for Jeonbuk, he looks more composed than me and I'm not even taking them, that's why. He hit's the ball with such power we are lucky Su-Hyun didn't touch it he would of been knocked out. It's 4-3 but if we score this we are into the next round. This is our moment.

What a time for the youngster to prove himself. At the age of 18, Kang Yun-Seong steps up to take the deciding penalty, he must be more nervous than anyone, but he doesn't show it the ball is in the net!!!!

A terrible terrible, appalling penalty, I would be embarrassed to celebrate normally but it's knocked out Jeonbuk. We are through 5-3 on penalties. Kang scuffs his shot into the keepers hands but in true penalty moment fashion the keepers dropped it. Tears for the Jeonbuk players and Cho Hyun-Woo must be fuming after that mistake by his understudy. 

Post Match

In true Daejeon fashion, we have gritted our way through to the next round, with all my hopes on securing the Fa Cup 2018-19 trophy still intact. We might have been the poorer side with some questionable tactics by myself and an even more questionable equalizer that looked more like a swimming pool dive than a penalty. It doesn't matter though because we are through to the next round! The players are ecstatic and so are the fans, we might have boosted our attendances with that finish. 

The gritty poor but disciplined performance that managed to see us into the next round.

Cup Draw

With the win over Jeonbuk, we now enter the hat for the next round with some strong teams still in it, like Jeju and Suwon Bluewings. We have some fear but are luckily drawn against fellow mid tablers Gangwon. The hope is alive for a final run!

TL:DR

A shortened than normal part, that saw Daejeon vs Jeonbuk in the Fa Cup 4th round. It had everything action, controversy and a whole lot of boring nothingness. You can't beat a bit of a cup competition, but even with all that we managed to claw our way through. The most important thing to remember is "It's Coming Home".