Suwon: Thousands of football fans in South Korea who braved sweltering heat on this sticky Wednesday night enjoyed an entertaining match involving the Premier League club Newcastle United and a team of South Korean league All-Stars. With the mercury refusing to drop below 32 C even after sunset, 27,422 fans filled up seats for the 8 p.m. kickoff at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul, for Newcastle's preseason match against Team K League.
According to Yonhap News Agency, every little move by Newcastle players drew oohs and aahs from their supporters' section at one end of the pitch, even during prematch warmup. Fans even broke into the club's walkout song, set to the Beatles classic "Hey Jude." Not to be outdone, fans of different K League 1 clubs at the opposite end were united on this night, as they took turns in singing their own team's anthems and cheering on representatives from the dozen clubs in the top South Korean circuit. Some K League supporters even booed Newcastle players when they took corners in front of them.
But even K League fans had a favorite on Newcastle - their recent South Korean signing, Park Seung-soo. Park, 18, spent the past two seasons playing for Suwon-based K League 2 club Suwon Samsung Bluewings before joining Newcastle last week. Though Park hadn't originally been on the club's Asian tour squad, he made his way to the bench at the start of Wednesday's match and drew loud cheers when he was shown on the stadium's two main scoreboards. More cheers came from all corners of the stadium during the match, as the two sides traded some early looks.
And when Kim Jin-gyu put Team K League on the board off a counterattack chance in the 36th minute, the decibel reached a new level. During halftime, K-pop girl group Ive performed their hits "Love Dive," "Rebel Heart" and "I Am," adding to the festive mood. Both sides made several substitutions at the start of the second half and then a few minutes after the restart, with every Team K League player seeing action. The match didn't lack any physicality, with Newcastle players gearing up for the new season starting in August and their Team K League counterparts flexing their midseason form.
There was even a testy moment between Will Osula of Newcastle and Anton Krivotsyuk of Team K League during stoppage of play, and they had to be separated by teammates with cooler heads. The match then took an exciting turn for the fans when Newcastle's recent South Korean signing, Park Seung-soo, subbed in for Osula for his Magpies debut on his old stomping ground. Park's former K League club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, are based in Suwon World Cup Stadium.
In his limited minutes, Park drew thunderous cheers when he danced past a couple of defenders in the box just moments after taking the field and brought his supporters out of their seats with another scoring chance later. Park, though, couldn't find the back of the net as Kim Jin-gyu's goal stood as the winner for Team K League. This was the first of two matches for the Magpies in South Korea as part of the annual Coupang Play Series. They will take on UEFA Europa League champions Tottenham Hotspur at 8 p.m. Sunday at Seoul World Cup Stadium.