Foreign Players
See also: List of foreign K-League players| Season | Squad | Play in match | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–1993 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 3 | 3 | |
| 1996–2000 | 5 | 3 | |
| 2001–2002 | 7 | 3 | |
| 2003–2004 | 5 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 4 | 3 | |
| 2006–2008 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2009– | 3+1 | 3+1 |
At the inception of the K-League in 1983, only two Brazilian players made rosters. At the time, rules allowed each club to have three foreign players and that the three could also play simultaneously in a game. From the 1996 season, each team had five foreign players among whom three could play in a game at the same time. Moreover, from the 2000 season to the 2002 season, the limit on foreign players was expanded seven but only three could play in a game at the same time. The limit was lower to five in 2003, four in 2005, and three in 2007. From the 2009 season, the number of foreign players went back up to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.
In the 1985 season, Piyapong Pue-on of Thailand led foreign players in the league in scoring and assists. Other leading players were Rade Bogdanović, who had 10 goals and 10 assists in the 1996 season. Valeri Sarychev, the K-League's most famous foreign goalkeeper, played in 320 league games from 1992 to 2004. He was eventually naturalized as a Korean citizen and given the Korean name Shin Eui-Son which means God's hand because of his stellar play.
In the 1990s, the trend was for the K-League to get foreign players from Eastern Europe like Rade Bogdanović, Radivoje Manic, Saša Drakulić and Denis Laktionov. From 2000, Brazilians became the K-League's priority such as Tavares, Mota, Nádson, Adilson and Edu. Since 2009, players from AFC have been fairly popular especially those from Australia, China PR, Japan and Uzbekistan.
- Notable Foreign Players
|
|
|
|
|
Famous quotes containing the words foreign and/or players:
“It tosses up our losses, the torn seine,
The shattered lobster pot, the broken oar
And the gear of foreign dead men. The sea has many voices,
Many gods and many voices.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)