This year’s professional soccer K League 1 champion Ulsan HD and traditional rival Pohang Steelers will hold an “East Coast Derby” in Seoul for the Korea Cup championship.
Ulsan and Pohang will clash in the final of the 2024 Hana Bank Korea Cup at 3 p.m. on the 30th at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
The Korea Cup, which determines the best soccer club in both professional and amateur leagues, was dubbed the Korea Football Association (FA) cup until last year, but changed its name this year. The finals also changed from home-and-away to neutral single-game.
The “Seoul Neutral Final” was introduced to establish the tradition of determining the final winner this year at the stadium representing Korean soccer. The first match will be decorated with the historical “East Coast Derby.”
Ulsan, which has won the K League 1 title for three consecutive years so far this season, is determined to win the Korea Cup and win two titles this season.
If Ulsan, which has the only Korea Cup title in 2017, retakes the top spot in seven years, it will become the third team to win the K-League and the Korea Cup in a year after Pohang in 2013 and Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2020.
Ulsan won the round of 16 at the Korea Cup after a penalty shootout against Gyeongnam FC, the second-division team, and later defeated Incheon United and Gwangju FC to reach the final.
In addition to defending the title, Pohang wants the title of “single first place” with the most wins in the Korea Cup.
Pohang, the winner of 1996, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2023, is currently tied for the most wins in the Korea Cup (5 times) along with Jeonbuk and Suwon Samsung.
If he wins this year, he will become the “single No. 1” in the most wins with two consecutive Korean Cups.
Pohang also beat Suwon Samsung of the K League 2 after a penalty shootout in the round of 16 of the tournament, and then defeated FC Seoul in the quarterfinals and Jeju United in the semifinals to reach the final.
In objective power, Ulsan, the league’s winner, is considered to be ahead by far, but the results are unpredictable because Pohang has continued its tradition of holding Ulsan back when it was crucial.
At the Korea Cup Media Day held on the 21st, Pohang coach Park Tae-ha vowed to dig in, pointing out Ulsan’s “aging” as a weakness, and Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon responded, “We are superior to ‘aging’ rather than ‘aging’, signaling a match without concessions.
It can be a variable that both teams played the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) league stage during the week.
Ulsan lost 1-3 at home against Shanghai Haigang (China) on the 26th and lost five consecutive ACLE games, so the festive atmosphere of winning the league was somewhat subdued.
Pohang lost 0-2 in an away game against Yokohama Marinos (Japan) on the 27th and only won and lost 2 games on the league stage. 안전놀이터
Pohang had to return from an away game a day later than Ulsan, so it prepared for the final by operating a rotation in the match against Yokohama.
If Pohang wins the Korea Cup, it will basically receive a ticket to play in ACL2, the Asian second-tier club competition following ACLE, but it may not even get it depending on the results of ACLE and ACL2 in Gwangju or Jeonbuk.
Ulsan has already secured a berth to participate in ACLE next season by winning the league this year.