Jeonnam Dragons and Busan I’Park, who dream of returning to the K League 1, will compete desperately for the same dream of promotion.
Jeonnam and Busan will play Hana Bank’s K League 2 2024 semi-playoff (semi-PO) at Gwangyang Football Stadium at 7 p.m. on the 21st.
The semi-PO is held in a single round, which is held at home in Jeollanam-do.
South Jeolla Province, which finished fourth in the regular season league, will play with one more advantage. Even if it ties with fifth-ranked Busan in a semi-PO, it can advance to the K-League 2 PO. Busan must win.
The team that goes up to the PO will face Seoul E-Land FC, which ranked third in the K League 2, at 4:30 p.m. on the 24th at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul.
The PO will only be decided for 90 minutes without extra time, and if it is a draw, Seoul E-Land will advance to the playoff. The team that passed the PO will face off against the 10th place in the K League 1. The 10th place in the K League has yet to be decided, but Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daegu FC are competing.
South Jeolla Province and Busan are corporate teams that once represented the K-League, ahead of a challenging journey. However, as they failed to return to the K-League 1, they have become familiar with the K-League 2.
Founded in 1995, Jeonnam has never topped the K-League. However, it has the potential to win four Korea Cups. In 2021, it became the first K-League 2 team to win the Korea Cup and qualify for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.
However, Jeonnam has not been ranked in the K League 1 for six years since it was demoted by staying at the bottom of the K League 1 in 2018. It also suffered the humiliation of staying at the bottom of the K League 2 in 2022.
Having spent a long time in the second division league, South Jeolla Province has displayed strong commitment to promotion by banking on its strong offense capability this season. South Jeolla Province scored 61 goals each with 12 goals this season, ranking second only to Seoul E-Land (62 goals).
Busan boasts an older and more splendid history than South Jeolla Province. Busan was a member of the Korea Professional Football Association in 1983. Over the course of its long history, it has won four K-League 1 titles and one Korea Cup title.
However, Busan moved away from the K League 1 after being demoted to the K League 2 in 2016. Busan returned to the K League 1 in 2020, but remained at the bottom of the list in the same year, before being demoted in 2021. Since then, the team has remained in the second division for four consecutive seasons. 스포츠토토
Busan is pinning its hopes on Cho Sung-hwan, who has a lot of talent on the professional stage. Cho, who coached Jeju United and Incheon United, took the helm of Busan in July, when he was at the 9th place, raising his team to fifth. Busan, which had only seven wins (five draws and eight losses) through the middle of the season, has rebounded by recording nine wins, three draws and four losses since Cho took the helm.
Under Cho Sung-hwan, Busan is expected to play with confidence as it won all two away matches in South Jeolla Province. “Since I have won in (Gwangyang) away matches, I will analyze it carefully and deal with it,” Cho Sung-hwan said. “I will prepare by paying attention to organizational strength and balance of offense and defense.”