9 Apr 2009(Thu)

April 7, 2009: Fans jeering a rival player is not necessarily a bad thing.

It usually means that they acknowledge he is a good player, maybe even fear him and no doubt wish he were playing for their team.

On the other hand, a player who is ignored by the opposing fans and greeted by silence during the team announcements means he hasn't done anything special to merit attention, so the boo-factor is an interesting gauge of the status of the players.

Take, for example, Chong Tese.
Kawasaki Frontale's burly North Korean forward has become one of the characters of the J.League, and his rise to the top ranks of Asian football is attracting the jeers of rival fans; a sure sign that he has made it.
The other week at Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chong was involved in a bruising battle with JEF's Australian centre half, Eddy Bosnar. On one occasion, the JEF fans massed behind the goal at the home end gave Chong a bit of stick, and he responded by waving at them with both arms as he trotted back.

The referee, Yuichi Nishimura, was not amused, and told Chong to cut out the gestures, which could be viewed as provocative.

I thought it was quite amusing, seeing Chong's extravagant reaction to the friendly baiting, and further enhanced his reputation and standing in the J. League.

Since then he's been in the news a lot while on World Cup duty, accusing the UAE keeper of spitting in his face in Pyongyang and then being an alleged victim of the food poisoning mystery in Seoul before they played South Korea. It was also during the Korea derby that Chong's header early in the second half at 0-0 was saved by Lee Woon Jae, and ruled not to have crossed the line.

Chong is good for the game in Japan; a character and an entertainer, as well as being a powerful player with the reputation in Korea as the Asian Rooney.

I am sure the jeers will continue to grow -- flattery indeed for the player and for Frontale.

ends