K-League finally kicks off 2020 season tonight, as defending champions Jeonbuk beat Suwon 1-0 at home, without fans around.
While the first half seemed sluggish after more than two months without football, second half have been packed with actions.
Suwon down to 10 men, after Terry Antonis was sent off with 15 minutes remaining for a reckless studs-up tackle.
Jeonbuk took the numerical advantage, as 41-year-old Lee Dong-gook scored a header from corner set-piece.
🎥 #KLeague Moment
🦁 Another look at The Lion King, Lee Dong-gook's opening goal. #KLeague | #K리그 | #JEOvSSB pic.twitter.com/GT2dz0Ozeo
— K League (@kleague) May 8, 2020
In the 42,477-capacity Jeonju World Cup Stadium, online viewers around the world could see a gigantic banner “C_U_SOON” and “STAY STRONG” across the empty seats.
Live broadcast tried to live it up the atmosphere by playing recordings of the fan’s excitements– with drums, chants, cheers and clapping.
In March, South Korea was the second worst country to be affected by COVID-19 after China. But the East Asian country have been able to control the virus, without a lockdown measures. They even held an election last month, which proved to be successful.
In May, South Korean government allow their people to resume all their activities outside of the house, including football.
K-League, becoming the first league to return to action after heavily affected by COVID-19. Since other top leagues in the world have yet to resume, K-League benefited from the situation.
Last seson, the league sold broadcast rights to just six countries, and all were in Asia. This year, more than 36 countries secured the broadcasting rights, including BBC in UK and Astro in Malaysia.