1998 K League

Football league season

Hyundai Cup
K LeagueSeason| 1998

|

Dates| Regular season:
18 July – 14 October 1998
Championship:
17–31 October 1998
Champions| Suwon Samsung Bluewings
(1st title)
Asian Club Championship| Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Cup Winners' Cup| Anyang LG Cheetahs
Matches played| 90
Goals scored| 275 (3.06 per match)
Best Player| Ko Jong-soo
Top goalscorer| Yoo Sang-chul
(14 goals)

← 1997

1999 →

The 1998 K League was the 16th season of South Korean professional football league, and was the first season to have been named the "K League". This season is called the "Renaissance of K League" in South Korea. Despite the poor performance of South Korea team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 1998 season of K League recorded a total of 2 million spectators with young star players' popularity for the first time. The three most popular players of them Ko Jong-soo, Lee Dong-gook, and Ahn Jung-hwan were called the "K League Troika".[1]

## Regular season

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | OW | PW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

|
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1  | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 18  | 9  | 1  | 2  | 6  | 33  | 22  | +11  | 31  | Qualification for the playoffs final
2  | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i | 18  | 8  | 1  | 2  | 7  | 37  | 26  | +11  | 28  | Qualification for the playoffs semi-final
3  | Pohang Steelers | 18  | 8  | 2  | 0  | 8  | 34  | 23  | +11  | 28  | Qualification for the playoffs first round
4  | Jeonnam Dragons | 18  | 8  | 1  | 0  | 9  | 21  | 20  | +1  | 26
5  | Busan Daewoo Royals | 18  | 6  | 3  | 1  | 8  | 27  | 22  | +5  | 25  |
6  | Jeonbuk Hyundai Dinos | 18  | 8  | 0  | 1  | 9  | 30  | 35  | −5  | 25
7  | Bucheon SK | 18  | 7  | 1  | 1  | 9  | 28  | 32  | −4  | 24
8  | Anyang LG Cheetahs | 18  | 6  | 2  | 1  | 9  | 28  | 28  | 0  | 23  | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup
9  | Daejeon Citizen | 18  | 3  | 2  | 1  | 12  | 20  | 35  | −15  | 14  |
10  | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 18  | 3  | 0  | 2  | 13  | 17  | 32  | −15  | 11

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: W) 3 points; WG) won with golden goal, 2 points; WP) won after penalty shoot-out, 1 point

## Championship playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1998 K League Championship

### Bracket

[edit]

| First round | | | Semi-final | | | Final |

|
|
|
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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  |  |
| | | | 2 | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i (p) | 2 | 2 | 4 (4) | |
|  |
| | | 1R | Pohang Steelers | 3 | 1 | 4 (1) |
| 3 | Pohang Steelers (p) | 0 (5) |

| 4 | Jeonnam Dragons | 0 (3) |
| | SF | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|  |
| | | 1 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | |

| |
| | |
|  |
| | | |

### Final table

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Qualification

|
|

1  | Suwon Samsung Bluewings (C) | Qualification for the Asian Club Championship
2  | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i |
3  | Pohang Steelers
4  | Jeonnam Dragons

Source: RSSSF
(C) Champions

## Awards

[edit]

### Main awards

[edit]

Award  | Winner  | Club

|
|

Most Valuable Player[2] |  Ko Jong-soo | Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Top goalscorer[3] |  Yoo Sang-chul | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Top assist provider[3] |  Jung Jeong-soo | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Rookie of the Year[2] |  Lee Dong-gook | Pohang Steelers
Manager of the Year[4] |  Kim Ho | Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Best Referee[2] |  Han Byung-hwa  | —

### Best XI

[edit]

Position  | Winner  | Club

|
|

Goalkeeper  |  Kim Byung-ji | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Defenders  |  An Ik-soo | Pohang Steelers
Maciel | Jeonnam Dragons
Lee Lim-saeng | Bucheon SK
Midfielders  |  Ko Jong-soo | Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Yoo Sang-chul | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Baek Seung-chul | Pohang Steelers
Ahn Jung-hwan | Busan Daewoo Royals
Jung Jeong-soo | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Forwards  |  Kim Hyun-seok | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Saša Drakulić | Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Source:[2]

## See also

[edit]

* 1998 K League Championship
* 1998 Korean League Cup
* 1998 Korean League Cup (Supplementary Cup)
* 1998 Korean FA Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ '응답하라 1998', 슈퍼스타 많던 'K리그의 황금기' (in Korean). OhmyNews. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
2. ^ a b c d 고종수 MVP 베스트11 뽑혀'겹경사'이동국은 신인왕. Naver (in Korean). The Hankyoreh. 8 January 1999.
3. ^ a b 현대 김현석 포항 고정운'40-40'맞수 맞대결. Naver (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun. 24 October 1998. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
4. ^ [프로축구] 역대 감독상·MVP·신인상 수상자(표) (in Korean). Maeil Business Newspaper. 1 December 2014. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* RSSSF

* v
* t
* e

K League seasons

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Championship|

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*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[OW]: Won after extra time (2 points)
*[PW]: Won after penalty shoot-out (1 point)
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template