In the company of Devils.

Soooooooooooooooooo. Here we are at the end of another month and its no surprise that I have fallen shamefully behind on my blog posts. Promises of frequent updates have been broken, aspirations for a weekly post have been put firmly in check by the harsh reality of my laziness and procrastination. I had high hopes by this stage of having everyone firmly filled in on my school, workmates, students, toilets (coming soon to a blogspot near you), the area I live and the curious practice of the Korean drugged out puppy trade. Alas, some of these pieces may never be written and shall most likely be lost to the dump of blogposts that could have been. Tragic really. But, its not all doom and gloom chums because I've mustered up the werewithal to post about possibly the most interesting and important aspect of life here in Daegu. And here they are:

The Daegu Fuckin' Devils!!

As soon as I arrived in Daegu, I was eager to join one of the three football teams here that competed in the Korean Foreigner Football League. I had heard tell that the Devils were the team to join so I wasted no time in getting in touch. They informed me and some other newbies that they were looking for 2 or 3 more players as they had a fairly big squad. Throughout September we attended some training sessions and fortunately I was asked to join the team along with a couple of other mates. Unfortunately we had a casualty along the way with my good friend Gareth defecting to bitter local rivals Daegu FC for the promise of more guaranteed first team football. Ah well.

Our opening game in the league came against what can only be described as whipping boys. We won 10-1, I was played up front, a  position I've never really played before 11 a side, but I managed two scrappy goals amongst the 10 so I was happy with the debut. 

Next up however was serious business. The Ulsan Cup is held every year in Korea. Its the biggest cup for foreigner teams here and the winners are somewhat considered to be the best foreigner team in Korea (or so it seems). On Saturday you play 3 group games. After that there is a Winners and Losers cup on Sunday with the potential of playing 3 more games should you make the final- 25/30 min halves per game. We travelled to Ulsan on Friday night with games early on Saturday. I was sharing a room with seasoned vet of the Devils Mikey Cavada. That friday evening as he left the bar, I asked how late he minded me staying out. He replied 'just not too late'. Early the next morning, suffering from a raging hangover, I was informed (jokingly...half-jokingly??) that last night fell under the bracket of 'too late' and curfew would be imposed that night. For the rest of the morning I desperately tried to shake a whopping headache and voided my bowels in a less than satisfactory or sanitary toilet near the pitches.

Our first game of the tournament against Seoul based Outkasts FC started horribly. One of our key centre mids was knocked unconscious with a combination headbutt/wallop against the turf. The two teams proceeded to argue and jostle above his spazzing body as those of us on the sidelines fumbled for water to bring to his aid. Eventually he was carried off the pitch and to a nearby hospital. Our heads never seemed to get in that game and despite the opposition being very weak we sucuumbed to a 1-0 defeat. Heads were down and some tensions were slightly frayed. I'd made a cameo appearance near the end but felt little had been achieved. 

Not to worry, our next match was against Jejuventus from Jeju island. We came out all guns blazing here however, geared up from our previous defeat. We scored early on and continued from there. I managed to notch up a brace in this game and we ran out 7-0 victors. (Jejuventus would later outplay Outkasts in a 0-0 draw between the two...gives ya an idea of how bad the 1st defeat was).

So now we were on a high and gearing up for the big one. Our last group game and it happened to be a Daegu derby. In recent years Daegu FC had begun to shift the balance of power in Daegu football it seems, and the veterans on the team seemed determined that today was a day to put that to an end. We started brightly and after some great work down the right wing, a zipping cross was played to me at the back post. All of one yard out, I did my very best to sky it over the bar but fortunately it managed to just about sneak in under the roof of the net. Relief and euphoria all at once. 1-0 Devils. We continued to be the better side I thought for the remainder of the half. Second half started even enough and under some pressure our player-manager Timmy booted the ball upfield. There was a wicked spin on it so I thought I'd chase down the centre back and see how he dealt with it. The ball seemed to bounce off his knee as he stumbled and suddenly I was through on goal. I managed to sneak the ball in at the near post and was instantly bombarded by ecstatic teammates. As they all screamed in my ear my favourite nugget of praise I managed to gleam from centre mid G was: "They're gonna be building a statue of you in Daegu baby!!" The rest of the game was quite uneventful and FC managed to pull back a rather fortunate goal that looked like it was meant to be a cross. We held on for our win and topped our group. 

Bodies were aching that night so we took it easy. Many jokes were made of the state I'd been in that morning and how I managed to get 4 goals. Some suggested (me included) that it was a winning formula- not to be tampered with. The spirit was willing but the flesh spongy and bruised so all of us had an early night. The next morning I felt of much sounder body and mind and ready for our quarter final.

Again we seemed to start slow and despite having much the better of the game, our quarter final ended 0-0. So penalties it was.  but with our keeper Bino making saves like this:

and boys like Donny putting away penos like this:

the outcome was never in doubt.

We progressed to the semi's were we were victorious 2-1 thanks to a Chad Newton double (I think...this is the game I have least memory of it seems). There was an epic battle between the lad with the ponytail and our giant Haitian centre half during the game which was entertaining to watch and listen to- the Haitian is one funny smack talker.

So we were through to the final. It was to be against our leagues current reigning champions Busan Utd. I hadn't scored today and was feeling it wasn't my day. The game started at a high tempo and after myself and Mikey Vada pressured their right back into an error, good old Chad Newton from Cinncinatti took the ball on, beat a defender and smashed an absolute beaut into the far corner. 1-0 Devils. After not playing particularly well and feeling the toll of two days of football on my body, I was substituted. Our star centre back 'G.I. Mark' aka 'MEGATRON' (in the above picture) also had to come off with an injury and in his absence, an equaliser was scored. It was our understanding that in this tournament once you were subbed off you couldn't be subbed back on (our league is roll on roll off subs). I had taken off my boots and shinguards and was enjoying a pitchside smoke when Chad pulled up injured and I was frantically urged by my teammates to get my fuckin boots on and get on the pitch. So I managed to get my gear back on and entered the game once more. Full time ended 1-1 so two periods of 10 minute extra time were on the cards. The 1st half of ET was uneventful but we began to pressure. The second half started and it was hectic. Our star man, centre mid Mark McKeever picked up the ball about midway into their half, he beats 2,3, maybe 4 men with ease, he takes a shot! it bounces off their defender! it rolls into my path and all I have to do is neatly slot it in. We go apeshit! I was convinced that was the winning goal and I think everyone on the pitch was. Not so. Busan equalise not long after. BUT! Huzzah! McKeever floats in a free kick from around half way, their defender panics, under no pressure attempts to head it clear, it loops over their keeper and in. Ok, not the greatest way to win it but we'll take it. 

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! keep in mind all this is happening in a 10 minute period of extra fuckin time. Busan pressure for another equaliser, mostly long balls, attempting to get a head on it. They send in one such ball, which doesn't look very threatening, we have plenty of people to clear it, but whats this?!?! At the edge of the box, rising like a salmon, is small man Tony.....with his hand in the air!!!!! the referee promptly gives a free for handball. Its literally on the 18 yard line. They smash it, it hits our wall, falls to a player who looks VERY offside, and whaddya know? They equalise. 3 fuckin' all. Can ya believe it? Penalties again. I took my place at half way with the rest of the boys, unsure of myself from the penalty spot since my heartbreaking miss for MOOPS FC this past April. Here we are (me at the edge, in my Ebbsfleet jersey, we were waiting for new jerseys, didn't have enough so i just had to wear red and stick the number on with tape...I chose 71 cos it was easy to tape on and a lot of other numbers were taken)

We watched nervously as the penalties were taken. They miss two of theirs and we calmly put away every spot kick. Fittingly, its player of the tournament Mark McKeever who nets the winner. We go apeshit again and then promptly congratulate our opponents on an epic final, played in very good spirits. We celebrate a bit then have to go to the trophy ceremony. Amidst this I'm informed that with 5 goals I've won the tournaments golden boot. What a start to Daegu Devils life, eh? I think I was the first award announced and here's a little pic of me receiving it:

other awards were given and lastly, after the organiser congratulates both us and Busan Utd. for the greatest final he's ever seen in the history of the competition, we received our 2011 Ulsan Cup Champions Trophy:

accepted by Bino and Timmy.

After that, we cracked out some Cuban cigars, some beers and drank from the cup: 

After that we headed back to Daegu and to a local bar (our jersey sponsors) Travellers. El Vino did flow, Spurs beat the Arse 2-1, Kyle Walker scored a cracker, no school the next day, what more could ye want?

Since then we had one match rescheduled which is gonna be played this weekend against Daegu whipping boys Sydney Street FC. This past Sunday we had a helluva long journey for an away match in a shithole called Jeonju. They're a good team and we got a hard earned 1-1 away draw which isn't bad but we should have won. One of the lads scored possibly the greatest goal I've seen in person- this whopper overhead kick but it got disallowed for offside, I was constantly called offside when I wasn't- the ref even telling me the linesman was wrong, to which i replied "then why did you blow your whistle??".....anyway, not the end of the world. Hopefully we're gonna kick on and win this league and there'll be plenty of happy updates about the Devils. 

Every Sunday is Devils Sunday.

Peace out scrotes!

Choo-Choo-Chuseok pt. II: 'What happened in Busan'

Alright scrotes.

As is my wont I'm already getting ridiculously behind on blog posts and a lotta stuff is happening or things I want to post about are being put on the long finger so I may try make this one snappy. So without further ado.

In our previous installment, our two young heroes had endured a harrowing journey via the depths of hell to Busan. But they made it! We hopped on the subway and were met by our good friends Ciara (who was generously letting us stay at her apartment) and Emilio (who was generously letting Ciara stay with him while we crashed at hers). We didn't mess about too much and headed out for a birthday/ugly clothing night celebration. We did our best to ugg ourselves up for the occassion and some succeeded more than others:

Needless to say, the craic was had, alcohol was consumed in copious amounts and their were heads in the morning. Here's a great picture of the whole gang that met up that night:

The next day was Baseball day! Baseball is huge in Korea and Busan offered myself and Maireads first opportunity to witness the sport at first hand. Yet again, a gaggle of westerners was assembled and we headed out to see the local Busan team Lotte Giants overcome some other team that we never did quite manage to get the name of. Anyway, with one eye half on the game and the rest of my attention focused on drinking, I ended up thoroughly enjoying my baseball experience wherein I even allowed myself to sample the wonders of a corndog. The strangest moment of the game had to be when the whole home crowd proceeded to place orange plastic bags on their head towards the end of the game. Me and Emilio had happened to be out smoking when they handed the bags out and got quite a large chorus of 'Boo' when we appeared from the inner recesses of the stadium bagless. Luckily a kind Korean woman spared our blushes by producing two spare bags.

Now I may be getting the days mixed up but I think that evening resulted in us beginning our epic search for the fabled 'Korean donut' for Mairead. Mairead's sweet tooth salivated as she was informed of the wonders of this exotic foreign treat that was not like a regular donut. She had to have one. The guy who sold them had closed his little stall however so we went to a rock bar instead where we requested banging tunes all night, enjoying such classics as The Pogues, The Beatles, a birra The Boss etc. It was the first time I'd heard good music while on a night out since I got here so I was chuffed.

The next day we chilled for the most part, nursing our ever growing accumulative hangovers. That night however it was time for some beach drinking and boy was it eventful. The evening began on a rather low note as we absconded to a well renowned Irish bar famous for its craic, caint agus ceoil- The Wolfhound. It was very dead and we were a little disappointed. But not to worry says you! Beach drinking was a mere walk away. So we headed on down to  Haeundae beach. We sat on some steps and sand and knocked back some beers and soju, we ignored the fact that what seemed to be a genuine American nutcase had infiltrated our ranks.

It was at this point that Mairead, Ciara and Emilio decided to go out and stand in the water to enjoy the swirl around their feet. Being the dour kill-joy that I am, I did not join them, opting instead to drink more soju on the steps. Suddenly I was approached by Emilio with the news that Mairead had been grabbed and dunked into the water. We were pretty pissed off about it and promptly went in search of the culprits. It was hard to tell who it was and we may or may not have accosted the correct people at one point but we couldn't be sure and everyone claimed innocence. Without even so much as an apology, we returned to the now drenched damsel in distress. She was taking it pretty well, unlike American nutjob who proceeded to shout expletives about the French. Every so often our conversation was interrupted by him getting increasingly louder as he uttered "...the fuCKINNGG FREEEENCCCCCHHHHH!"

Anyway, Mairead was soaked and beginning to shiver. But never fear, the boyfriend was here. My mind instantly went into overdrive in an attempt to somehow rectify this situation so that we could stay out, have more fun without Mairead being uncomfortable or getting sick. It clicked. I dashed off not a moment too soon in search of the nearest apparel store. I came across a charming little woman with a less than toothy grin who was selling an array of beach shorts and flip flops. Without caring to attempt to break our language barrier and inquire about sizes, I grabbed the cheapest pair of shorts I could find and returned at a canter to the rest of the group. Myself and Mairead afforded ourselves some privacy by the shore and I gave her my dry jeans while I slipped on the recently purchased shorts. She had already acquired a spare tshirt from ciara as well as a cardigan. I had to make one more rather embarrassing trip back to the aforementioned lady to buy a pair of flip flops for Mairead. The end result of this whole debaccle looked a little something like this:

The shorts got plenty of comments and stares and even some props when the backstory behind them was filled in. The night however took yet another nasty turn. As we returned to our steps to continue our beverage consumption, at some stage an Asian fellow approached us and sat down. He seems to have been Japanese. As a friendly gesture Emilio offered him some Soju which he quickly accepted. He wasn't so willing to accept the fact he had to give it back however. He turned quite nasty, insisting the Soju was his and at one point grabbing Emilio. I had barely noticed he was there up unitl this all erupted so I'm not sure of the full details. Anyway, he seemed crazy. There was a very short Mexican stand-off and then we left him to harass other unsuspecting members of the public along the beach. Eventually it was time for home after a rather dramatico moment in our lives. (Korean in-joke)

The rest of the trip I am unsure of the order of. We explored Busan and Mairead frequently and in vain searched for the famed Korean donut. Although she did find Krispy Kreme

Where she became a window licker and donut lover! We went to another branch of the rock bar we'd been at before. This one was 14 stories high and overlooked Haeundae beach but unfortunately the best I got out of the DJ was some Eminem- which was very enjoyable to rap out however.

At some point we visited a temple which I forget the name is but I think I'm already at the point of ya seen one ya seen em all.....and I've only seen two. Cynicism growing exponentially with age it would seem.

A momentous finish to the whole trip was when me and Mairead were actually on our last sojourn around Busan before getting our gear and going home, one last attempt was made to see if Korean donut man was there. Miraculously he was. Donuts were ordered, satisfied groans were exchanged between sweet lovers and smiles were evident all round. It had all turned out ok.

Me and Mairead left Busan with one lingering thought hanging over us "I wish we had the beach in Daegu."


Later scrotes. There is much to fill in, such as my exploits with my Expat football team Daegu Devils, The lowdown on the area where I live, the school I teach in, the kids I teach, some odd items for sale in Korean shop windows.....so I'm unsure what the next entry will entail. For now hope you all had a very merry Chuseok at home and I can't wait to celebrate it again next year.

Peace scrotes.