The most heartbreaking ‘supermatch’ of all time is about to unfold.
The bottom-ranked Suwon Samsung will host FC Seoul in the 37th round of the Hana One Q K League 2023 at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
A loss would put Suwon in a nightmare situation, with the club facing relegation to the K League 2 (second division) for the first time in its history.
If last-place Suwon (29 points) loses and 11th-place Gangwon FC (30 points) wins against Suwon FC (32 points), the goal difference between Suwon and 11th-place Suwon FC will be three points.
However, Suwon FC (43 goals) currently leads Suwon (34 goals) in goals scored by nine goals. This means that even if Suwon manages to tie Suwon FC on points in the final match, it is very likely that they will finish last on goal difference.
Unlike the 10th and 11th places, which give them a chance to “resurrect the loser” through the promotion playoffs (PO), the last place finisher is relegated straight away.
Since its inception in 1995, Suwon has been one of the most popular professional soccer clubs in Korea, winning multiple trophies (four K League 1 titles, five FA Cups, six League Cups, and two Asian Champions League titles).
If relegation were to become a reality, it would be a “catastrophe” for the club, with words like “embarrassment” and “humiliation” not being enough to describe it.
Fortunately, Suwon had just come from behind to win a 3-2 reverse at home against Suwon FC in the 36th round to lift their spirits.
Despite a major setback when Kazuki, the centerpiece of their offense, was sent off in the 14th minute, Suwon held on to the lead before Kim Joo-chan scored a dramatic winner in the 33rd minute.
Suwon, who have lost all three games against Seoul this season, will be hoping for an ‘upset’ in the final Super Match.
Seoul is currently in seventh place (54 points) at the top of the Final B table, so they won’t have much motivation to win.
However, they won’t be dropping three points to rivals Suwon lightly.
Seoul will be looking to make their final home game of the season a complete celebration by handing Suwon a heartbreaking defeat.
Seoul is favored to become the first team in K League history to reach 400,000 fans in a season at the Super Match. They also have a good chance of breaking the record for the highest average attendance per game in a season across the four major professional sports leagues (the current record is 21,901 – Lotte Giants of the KBO in 2008).
The match between 11th-ranked Gangwon and 10th-ranked Suwon FC will be played at the same time at Gangneung Sports Complex.
Gangwon defeated Daejeon 1-0 in the 36th round, their first win in six games.
Kim Dae-won, who scored the winning goal, was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the round, while Shin Min-woo and Kim Young-bin were named to the Best 11.
Gangwon will look to keep the momentum going when they host Suwon FC for their second straight win of the season and move up to 10th place. 파워볼