SEOUL– Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and FC Seoul, two underachievers in the top South Korean football league this year, will duke it out for the title at the largest national football tournament this week, hoping to salvage an otherwise disappointing campaign.

The two K League 1 foes will meet in the two-legged FA Cup final, with FC Seoul serving as the host at 7 p.m. Thursday and Jeonbuk playing at home in the next leg at 2 p.m. Sunday.
FC Seoul finished the 2022 K League 1 campaign in ninth place, only two points above rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings for a dreaded trip to the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Jeonbuk saw their record streak of five consecutive K League 1 titles come to a screeching halt this fall. They opened the year with sights set on “treble,” or winning three major trophies in one year. In addition to coming up short in the domestic league, Jeonbuk were knocked out of the semifinals at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League in August. That leaves the FA Cup final as their only chance to lift a trophy in 2022.

Both head coaches, An Ik-soo for FC Seoul and Kim Sang-sik for Jeonbuk, are in the hot seat, a fact not lost on the tacticians during their media conference on Monday.

“I hold myself accountable for not leading the team to the sixth straight K League title this year, and we’ll try to restore our pride at the end,” Kim said. “We will do our best to get the last laugh.”

Jeonbuk did not lose to FC Seoul in K League play this year, with a win and two draws, but An said the recent results don’t matter much in the FA Cup final.

“Those matches are all in the past, and this is a totally different setting,” An said. “We’re only focusing on preparations for these upcoming matches. We know we’ve let our fans down this year and we will try to give them something to cheer about this time.”

Jeonbuk have won four FA Cups so far, one behind the all-time leaders, Suwon Samsung Bluewings. FC Seoul won their only FA Cup in 2015.

FC Seoul captain Na Sang-ho apologized to the team’s supporters and said he will try to end the seven-year title drought at the tournament.

“I think we are hungrier than Jeonbuk,” Na said. “As captain, I will try to lead by example and bring the trophy home.”

Jeonbuk defender Kim Jin-su said even though his team came up short in the K League and the AFC Champions League, Jeonbuk have proven what they are capable of.

“We expect ourselves to win something every year,” Kim said. “We only have the FA Cup left, and that’s our major source of motivation.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency