Daejeon to Face Argentinos Juniors

Daejeon Citizen will welcome Argentine side Argentinos Juniors to the Purple Arena for the 4th Annual 'It's Daejeon' international friendly.

Juniors, who play in the Argentine Premier Division, will provide a stern test for Citizen, who have made a poor start to the 2010 K-League campaign.

Daejeon have a record of one win and two defeats in the invitational event. After losing to both Club Internacional of Brazil and Vissel Kobe of Japan, Citizen defeated Brazilian giants Vasco da Gama last season.

The game will take place on the 5th June with a 6.30pm kick off.

Good Weekend for Citizen

Despite not playing this weekend, Daejeon Citizen lost no ground in the K-League table, as all teams in the lower half failed to pick up a single point.

The fortunate results started on Friday as Suwon were defeated at home to Seongnam 2-1. On Saturday Chunnam Dragons lost 3-2 at home to army side Gwangju Sangmu whilst on Sunday, Gangwon and Daegu lost to Gyeongnam and Seoul respectively.

The results leave Daejeon just 2 points below Gangwon FC and 3 points behind their next opponents Chunnam Dragons.

Gwangju Sangmu 1 - 1 Daejeon Citizen

by Liam Birch at Gwangju World Cup Stadium

Daejeon Citizen escaped from Gwangju with a credible draw to record their second point of the season.

Citizen will be the far happier team after withstanding an onslaught from the Gwangju attack for the final portion of the game in a ghostly quiet World Cup Stadium. Citizen started brightly and probably had the better of the opening exchanges. Around 20 minutes in, Kwak Chang-Hee found himself in space on the left hand side of the area around 10 yards out. As the Gwangju goalkeeper came rushing out, Kwak attempted to chip the ball over him. The effort looked goal bound but unfortunately for Citizen, the ball landed the wrong side of the post, nestling in the side netting.

Gwangju too had their fair share of chances. In particular, a volleyed effort from just outside the six yard box sailed just over the Daejeon bar. Whilst Gwangju were having most of the ball, they were failing to capitalize on their possession, in a similar manner to the problems Citizen themselves have faced over the past few games.

With so little quality on show, it took a moment of brilliance to open the scoring. When Daejeon received a free-kick on the right hand side of the penalty area, around 30 yards out, the Citizen fans emphatically chanted for talisman Ko Chang-Hyeon. Right on cue, the free-kick specialist curled a beautiful effort into the bottom corner, with the Gwangju goalkeeper rooted to his spot.

Much like against Daegu last week, Daejeon took a 1-0 lead into the break and came out too defensive in the second half. In fact, Daejeon struggled to make a single effort on goal during the entire second 45 minutes. That said, Gwangju were still having problems creating any real chances themselves.

The dour spectacle was reignited on 70 minutes when the Gwangju striker broke clear of the Daejeon defence, before being hauled down by the Daejeon keeper. Shin Jun-Bae, Daejeon's third goalkeeper selection of this season, failed to stop the resulting penalty, which was struck straight down the middle to even the score.

Shin went from villain to hero over the last 20 minutes however, with a string of excellent saves from one on one positions to ensure that Daejeon took a point back to Chungnam with them.

Daejeon will have a break next week before facing Chunnam Dragons the following Saturday.

MOM: Shin Jun-Bae