Sunday, Devil's Sunday

My latest adventures took me to Ulsan; a city on the coast and the so-called back-bone of Korean industry. The city is known for being the place Hyundai pumps out its cars in three colours; black,white and silver to almost every driver in the country.  But I was there for another reason; to participate in the Ulsan Riverside Cup with my teammates of the Daegu Devils.  Being one of the newcomers to an established institution, I've found it great to be welcomed into the team and make instant friends.  Starting the tournament off slowly, we scuppered to a 1 - 0 loss against a team from Seoul called the The Outcasts.  While they didn't feature Big Boi or Andre 3000, they did manage to foil our efforts and also knock one of our players, Aron, unconscious and reeling with a pretty bad concussion.  We really should have beat them.  We recovered in the second game against a team that flew from Jeju Island for the tournament, aptly named Jejuventus.  We beat them 7 - 0 and I managed to open my account for the team by bundling a ball over the line from very close range.  But they all count.

From then, we went from strength to strength and defeated our cross-town rivals Daegu FC 2 -1 .  The next day we were into the quarter-finals winning on penalties, through the semis, and into the cup final against perennial contenders Busan Utd.  We went up early in the game but gave away a cheap goal, allowing them back into it and calling for extra time of two ten-minute halves.  The first passed uneventfully but the second was very back-and-forth, resulting in four quick goals shared at two apiece.  It was penalties again.  I could only watch on in anticipation as Busan pushed two wide of the post and we netted convincingly.  Devils for the win.  We were Ulsan Cup champions and the celebrations began.  It was a great start to the campaign which I hope we can follow up with a strong league performance.

I'm not going to lie; I was pretty disappointed at the amount of time I was given on the pitch and feel pretty gutted that I haven't really been allowed the chance to prove myself yet.  Six games in two days could have allowed for a lot more changes, with a deep bench of fresh players itching to play a part.  For that reason, I didn't feel that I had played a big role in triumphing in the tournament and found it hard to hide my frustration as is usually the case when it comes to football.  I'm sure a lot of you can attest to that.  I do have to remember that it is still early days and that I have to earn my spot on the pitch.  Given more than 20 minutes I think I can really show what I have to offer the team.  I just have to keep showing up and putting the effort in.  If anything, it has spurred me into a (hopefully) more pro-active approach.

The celebrations were taken back to Daegu where we all met at our sponsoring bar Travelers.  The beer and Irish whisky were flowing as the night carried on into the wee hours.  It tastes so much sweeter out of a big trophy like that.  It was a great Devil's Sunday, as we call it.

The next day I looked to ease my aches as well as my hangover so I sought out the nearest jimjil-bang which is a Korean bathhouse.  That experience deserves a post unto itself so I will save it for next time.  Until then, thanks for reading and stay in touch with emails, blog comments or Facebook messages.  I haven't forgotten about you, so don't forget about me!

Much love
D