The stadium in Chuncheon is pretty spectacular, perched on the edge of a lake and entirely surrounded by mountains. I imagine it's a little like watching football in Switzerland, but with less Stephane Chapuisat.
We get to the ground just in time to purchase a couple of kimbap rolls and a few tins of beer, more for the novelty factor of being able to drink in your seat at a football match than any desire to get all wobbly in mid-afternoon. We also have time to peruse the banners of the Incheon fans, whose team provided the opposition for my first Gangwon game. I'm initially disappointed to see that they have dropped their "Meet you in the hall, boys" banner, until we realise that this year it's just written in Korean lettering instead. Regardless, I still have no idea what it could mean. I'm also not really a fan of "Terror and Trembling", at least not when it isn't specific as to who is doing the trembling.
The crowd is a little disappointing, given that Gangwon only play in Chuncheon four times a year, and it's a beautiful sunny afternoon. It doesn't seem to affect the men in orange though, as they set about absolutely dominating the opening exchanges, playing a very pleasing brand of passing football. However, I worry that the passing may disguise a lack of desire to run anywhere with the ball, as Gangwon look a little slow around the pitch, and seem reluctant to attack Incheon with their fullbacks despite the fact that Incheon (as per most Korean teams) are playing with all the width of Lily Cole on a diet. Still, the pressure tells eventually and following a clever flick, Gangwon's striker is clean through and tucks it neatly under the goalkeeper for 1-0. It stays this way with no real alarms until half-time. Could we be on for our first points of the season?
I spend half-time dampening my own expectations, and those of my friends, with the stories of the previous two games I had attended (both of which, I think, GFC were winning at the half). History does indeed repeat itself as Incheon come out ready to attack a little more, and immediately Gangwon look very shaky at the back. They hold out for 15 minutes before failing to clear the ball and allowing Incheon to equalise. For the next twenty minutes it's one way traffic, with Incheon scoring twice from a series of chances, the second goal from a three-on-four attack which somehow still results in a free man for Incheon.
Then Gangwon are thrown a lifeline. As a striker burts into the box, a defender slides in and flips the ball away cleanly for a corner. The striker goes over his leg and the referee points to the spot. An unbelievable decision to almost everyone in the ground an on the pitch. We'll take it though, and it might just be the leg-up back into this game that we need. Sadly, I couldn't get my camera working in time to capture the whole thing, but you will probably be able to guess what happened from my reaction.
Yep, in a passable impression of Chris Waddle, our man spanks the ball miles over the bar and into his own fans behind the goal. Maybe he felt guilty about the ridiculous penalty award. We'll never know I guess. After that, time is played out quietly, and Gangwon stretch their pointless run to 7 games. At least there's no relegation in the K-league.
The great advantage of a trip to Chuncheon is the chance to eat some Dakkgalbi, a spicy mix of red-pepper paste, garlic, ginger, cabbage, potato, rice-cake and chicken, all cooked in front of you. It's among my favourite Korean meals. I might even do a blog post on it one day. Once that is done, a plate of rice is thrown into the pan and fried in all of the juices, making a second delicious course. Ryan loved it so much he made ours into a little heart:
And that's the end of another post. I'm going to spend the rest of my day off working on an essay, and then learning a little more about how to teach speaking. I might even treat myself to a trip to the gym. Lucky me.
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