Into The 90s
Victory in the 1991 President's Cup, in a tournament exclusively with national sides, preceded the 6th FIFA World Youth Championship tournament which was to be held in Portugal. Due to the success of the Reunification Match the previous year, both Koreas united to send one Korean team to the tournament. The joint side reached the quarter-finals of the tournament that year, indicating a bright future for the Korean game.
Domestically, the game was starting to settle down on a more organized basis similar to the European models that influenced the setting up of the league. The clubs were assigned to home stadiums rather than continuing the league tour of venues. Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso, who had changed their name to LG Cheetahs, would be playing at the Dongdaemun Stadium in Seoul, along with Yukong Elephants and Ilhwa Chunma. POSCO Atoms would play at their newly opened Steelyard stadium, Hyundai Horang-i would play in Ulsan and Daewoo Royals would play at the Busan Gudeok venue used by the Korean team during the 1988 Olympics. The Busan stadium, which didn't bring much luck to the Korean national side, had the opposite effect on the Daewoo Royals as they cruised to the League championship, finishing ten points clear of Hyundai Horang-i. Curiously, the three clubs based at the Dongdaemun Stadium occupied the three bottom spots of the league table at the end of the season.
The shift to fixed home locations led to a huge boost in match attendance, with a total of 1,184,495 spectators watching the league matches that season. Also in 1991 the Korean League All-star game was launched at the Dongdaemun stadium, pitting a blue team (Daewoo Royals, LG Cheetahs, Yukong Elephants) against a red team (Ilhwa Chunma, POSCO Atoms, Hyundai Horang-I). The blue team, led by Yukong coach Kim Hyeon-seok, triumphed 3-1 over Chunma coach Park Jong-hwan's red team.
The Korean Olympic team qualified for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and there they were grouped with Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco. The Koreans remarkably drew all three matches but still exited the tournament.
POSCO Atoms won their third Super League championship in 1992, edging out a rejuvenated Ilhwa Chunma by a single point. The all-star game was changed slightly, pitting the best of the three Seoul teams in blue up against the best of the three non-Seoul teams in white. The white team, coached by legendary Korean star Cha Bum-keun won 2-0 thanks to two late goals from Kim Hyeon-seok.
The KFA launched the Adidas Cup in mid-1992. The tournament involved all the league clubs playing each other twice in a group setup, with match winners receiving three points, penalty-kick winners 1.5 points and penalty-kick losers one point. Ilhwa Chunma and LG Cheetahs finished in the top two spots after the ten games, and both sides contested the two-legged cup final. Ilhwa Chunma won the inaugural tournament 4-2 on aggregate.
In 1993 the national team set about trying to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup tournament. After breezing through the opening group, they advanced to the final group where they met up with Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Opening with a 3-0 win over Iran, Korea then drew with both Iraq and Saudi Arabia before losing 1-0 to Japan. With Saudi Arabia having all but claimed top spot in the group, the Koreans were in a precarious position, and a Japanese victory against Iraq would have sent Korea's arch-rivals to the USA, even if the Koreans were to defeat North Korea. A 3-0 win over the North kept up Korea's side of the bargain, and when Japan stuttered to a 2-2 draw with Iraq, Korea's qualification was finally secured.
The domestic league that season underwent a big change in the points system. Four points would now be awarded for a victory, and drawn games would be decided on penalty kicks. Two points would be awarded to teams victorious in the shoot-out, with the losers receiving one point.
Ilhwa Chunma won their first ever title, finishing nine points above second-placed LG Cheetahs. The Cheetahs were the most deadly of teams in the penalty kick competitions that year, claiming two points in eight of their eleven matches that finished in draws.
'Hite Beer' became the first ever sponsors of the Korean league for the 1994 season, as the profile of the league grew ever stronger within Korea. The league membership was also increased, with the arrival of Jeonju-based Chonbuk Buffalo. The seven members of the league would play each other five times each throughout the season, with the points system reverting to a three for a win, one for a draw setup. Ilhwa Chunma successfully retained their title, finishing three points ahead of Yukong Elephants. Chonbuk Buffalo had a horrible season, winning only three of their thirty league matches and finishing a distant last, before folding and withdrawing from the league.
The league had taken a two month long summer break between the months of May and July, during which time the national team headed to USA to take part in their fourth World Cup tournament. The Las Vegas draw had lumped Korea in with defending champions Germany, South American side Bolivia and their 1990 opponents Spain. Korea rescued a point with two goals in the final five minutes of the game through first Hong Myung-bo and then Seo Jung-won against a Spanish side that had been reduced to ten men early in the first half. A 0-0 draw against Bolivia, themselves reduced to ten men, left Korea requiring victory over the Germans to secure progress to the next round. Germany, thanks to two goals from Jurgen Klinsmann and one from Karl-Heinz Riedle went into the half-time break 3-0 up. Hwang Sun-hong and Hong Myung-bo pulled two goals back for Korea in the second half, but it wasn't enough for coach Kim Ho's side. Despite winning many plaudits from fans and commentators alike for their attacking play, the Koreans had still failed to register a victory in a World Cup competition for the fourth tournament now, and would again be going home at the group stage.
They suffered further disappointment at the Asian Games tournament in Hiroshima, where they lost out in the third place match to Kuwait after previously breaking their record scoreline with an 11-0 demolition of Nepal.
The 1995 season saw a lot of changes within the Korean league. Chonbuk Dinos were admitted to replace the departed Chonbuk Buffalo, and new club Chunnam Dragons were admitted, based in Gwangyang. POSCO Atoms also rebranded themselves, becoming Pohang Atoms, further strengthening their ties with the local community. With eight teams now in the league, each side faced each other four times, giving a total of twenty-eight matches. The matches were to be played out in two sections in the same manner as previously used in the 1984 and 1986 seasons. Ilhwa Chunma topped the first section and Pohang Atoms topped the second, which led to the two sides playing a home and away series at the end of the season. The first match at Dongdaemun stadium was tied 1-1 and the second, in the Pohang Steelyard, finished 3-3. The tie went to a third match in the neutral venue of Anyang, where Ilhwa Chunma's Lee Sang-yun scored an extra-time goal to win the Chunma's third consecutive championship.
The all-star match that season was played out between the Blue Dragons, a team made up of Korean players from the K-League, and the White Tigers, consisting of foreigners in the league. The match, in Busan, was won 1-0 by the Blue Dragon team with Roh Sang-rae scoring a late winner.
