Sungnam`s Coach Cha Getting Anxious

"Please give me a break!"

On Oct. 29th, Cha Kyung-bok, the coach of Sungnam Ilhwa, complained, "This way, I can`t live a long life." It`s not just a complaint. Even a couple of weeks before, it seemed almost certain that Sungnam won the championship of the K League. But, recently, it wrapped up 5 games without any victory. It is on the brink of giving up the first place it has retained.

Sungnam, which grabbed the championship last year, was leading the league with more than 10 games ahead of the other teams. Thus, it looked like a piece of cake for Sungnam to win this year`s championship until the end of the second round. But, with the beginning of the third round, it won Woolsan Hyundai 1-0 on Sep. 14th. And, that`s it. Then, it did not record any win in five games. It just recorded 2 ties and 3 losses. The gap between Sungnam and other teams are getting narrower. It is 4 points apart from Chunnam Dragons, and 5 points apart from LG, Woolsan, Pohang Steelers. On top of that, Sungnam has to take 5 more games until the end of the season. Thus, it seems hard for Sungnam to keep its position.

"Players just popped the champagne too early. We were leading the league with a wide margin. They got wrong. I shocked them, but it seems not working."

On Oct. 19th, coach Cha, after losing the game 1-3 in Woolsan, pulled down to the minor league goalkeeper Kim Hae-woon, defender Kim Yong-hee and mid-fielder Park Nam-yul. Cha considered them as "loose" since they idled around on the ground, allowing unnecessary goals. But, even after this extreme measure, Sungnam did not win a victory in two games (1 tie and 1 loss).

That is why coach Cha feels anxious facing a match with the weakest team, Daejun Citizens on Oct. 30th. Cha sighed, "The upcoming game could serve as a watershed foretelling our possibility at the championship. By all means, we should win, but…" He knows his team is stronger than Citizens, but his team`s spirits are so down that he could not guarantee a victory.

Cha is making all the preparations he could by pulling up Park Nam-yul from the minor league and boosting the perfect combination play between Shasha and Kim Dae.

Many people are holding their breath while waiting to see whether Sungnam could turn itself around by winning over Daejun.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com