K-League teams set the tone with second game

The Jeonbuk Motors got off to a solid start with a 3-1 victory over Daejeon Citizen last Sunday. This weekend’s game against the Asian champion Ulsan Hyundai will be the first of their biggest tests this year.

The two sibling teams - both are sponsored by Hyundai - will duel at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

The two teams have played against each other 70 times so far, and Ulsan is ahead with 32 victories against 22 losses and 16 draws.

The record, however, does not reflect the Motors’ dominance in recent years. The Motors, the 2012 runners-up, lost only once to Ulsan while winning five and drawing three in two recent years. The only loss, 4-1, was also recorded during a League Cup quarterfinal match in July 2011 when the Motors sent out bench players.

Ulsan will be seeking to turn the tables after winning the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Champions League last November. It jumped ahead with a 2-1 victory over Daegu FC 2-1 last Saturday.

Elsewhere, defending champions FC Seoul will seek its first victory of the season when they play against Incheon United tomorrow. The Suwon Bluewings will try doubling their wins in tomorrow’s game against Gangwon FC. The Pohang Steelers will face off against Daejeon Citizen tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the K-League is voting on the new name of the league’s newly created second division. The league initially named it K-League, as opposed to the first division, K League Classic, but decided to change it to either K League Basic or K League Challenge. The vote will be cast until today on the K-League Web site, (www.kleague.com).

By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joognang.co.kr]