One Goal Left

Korean soccer star, Kim Do-hoon (Seong-nam Il Hwa; age 33) also known as “National Cannon,” is on the verge of breaking the Korean professional soccer league’s record for most goals in a single regular season. The showdown will take place against the Jun-nam Dragons.

Kim is currently tied with Yoo Sang-chul’s record of 21 goals, which Yoo accomplished in 1994. Kim accomplished a hat trick against the An-yang LG on October 5, adding up his record to 21 goals. Kim’s is currently being trailed by the “samba trio” composed of the three Brazilian stars, Ricardo Lucas (Ul-san Hyundai), Itamar Batista Da Silva (Jun-nam Dragons), and Magno Alvez (Jun-buk Hyundai), who all have 19 goals.

Kim’s home team, Seoung-nam, has ten games left in the regular season. Keeping in mind Kim’s 0.66 goals per game average, he could end up finishing the season with 28 goals.

Seong-nam’s next match, Jun-nam, will be on October 8. Jun-nam is the team that boasts the best defense among the twelve clubs in the Korean professional soccer league. Jun-nam is currently 3rd in the league after Seong-nam and Ul-san. Their defense four-back line composed of last year’s World Cup star, Kim Tae-young, and Lee Young-Soo, Choi Gu-ruk, and Kim Jung-kyum, is currently considered as the league’s most stable defense. Moreover, “Vacuum Cleaner” Kim Nam-il reinforces the defense line by playing as a defensive midfielder.

At the start of the season, Jun-nam was on a perfect winning streak with eight wins and one tie until they lost their first game against Seong-nam. Jun-nam’s record against Seong-nam for this season is currently an even one win, one tie, and one loss. In respect to this record, Seong-nam’s Kim Do-hoon has only been able to score one goal against Jun-nam.

However, this match has a lot going for Kim. Kim Nam-il might not be able to start due to his physical condition, which is not very good. Kim Do-hoon has a strong attacking team on his back with Shin Tae-yong, Kim Dae-eui, Lee Sung-nam, and Sasa. The whole K-League has it’s eyes on whether or not Kim will be able to break the record.

Kim currently leads the league in assists as well with nine. If Kim is able to pull off one more, he will become the fifth player in the history of Korean professional soccer to have double digit marks in both goals and assists in a single regular season.

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com