Nexon hosted a friendly soccer match between retired world-class Korean and international soccer players in the Seoul World Cup Stadium over Oct. 19-20. The teams were split into FC Spear and Shield UTD, composed of former soccer players.
The events differed significantly between the two days. Oct. 19 focused on small matchups of around 25-minute intervals, including two different one-on-one competitions that ended with a free-kick shooting battle.
The first mini-event was a regular one-on-one matchup between a striker and defender, where they battled to a best of five games; the first player to win three games won the set. The second event between two players was followed by a power shot duel to see how many styrofoam walls each player could break with their shot. The last event tested the players’ abilities to score free kicks between three players on each team, with different amounts of points awarded for diverse types of free kicks.
Shield UTD won the first-day event and two of the three mini-events over FC Spear.
Fans felt a mixture of disbelief and excitement about the game becoming a reality.
“I was very surprised that all of the global football stars who planned to play in the match actually came to Korea,” Chris Ahn (10), spectator of the match, said. “I was shocked to find that the Shield UTD performed better than FC Spear. The [FC Spear] team had more name-valued players, so the match results were interesting to watch.”
The following day was a full-time soccer match between FC Spear and Shield UTD, with few alterations made to the match. Unlike an original soccer game with a limited amount of substitutions in formal matches, the ICON match removed all limits for substitutions.
Shield UTD was declared champions once again, triumphing 4-1 against FC Spear.
“I was a bit disappointed because I was cheering for the FC Spear,” Timothy Cha (10), soccer fan, said. “I thought the FC Spear players would score a lot of goals, but it ended up as a 4-1 loss to them, so it was a bit disappointing to see the attackers not score a lot.”
Spectators of the match showed preferences for players they wanted to see the most as well. Some looked forward to watching strikers, whereas others preferred to watch specific defenders.
“I was excited to watch Michael Owen,” Timothy said. “I wanted to see him the most because he is a Liverpool legend, and I am a Liverpool fan. However, it would have been nicer if he ran a bit more.”
A few soccer fans expressed how disheartened they were for not being informed of the event taking place.
“I feel like there needs to be more widespread promotion,” Adam Yannakakis, HS physical education teacher, said. “If you are not either connected to a group or a person who is directly aware of something that is coming up, it is borderline impossible to be aware of the event until the day of the event or even after it happens.”
As it is challenging to gather former world-class players into one sitting, fans acknowledge how much of a rare sighting the game was. With numerous soccer fans describing the event as the “game of their life,” many look forward to a day when another match may occur again.
