FC Seoul’s Dejan, best import ever
“The legend of Dejan shows no sign of stopping” was just one headline last week as the man in question scored a hat-trick for FC Seoul in a 5-1 thrashing of Incheon United.
Dejan Damjanovic is not only the highest scoring foreign player ever to perform in the K League Classic, the Montenegrin marksman is the best foreign import ever.
The stats back that up. On July 12, the 35 year-old scored the only goal of the game against Pohang Steelers. It took him to 10 league goals for the season. In doing so, he became the only player in history to reach double figures in nine consecutive seasons (disregarding the 2014 and 2015 campaigns that were spent in China).
But it is not just about the stats. For one thing, the longevity is unusual. Few foreign players last as long as the average smartphone in the Land of the Morning Calm. To have one in his ninth season is rare. To have one who has performed so well for such a long time is unprecedented.
I first met the striker back in 2007 when he had just signed for Incheon United. The port city club had quickly established a tradition of signing players from the Balkan countries and when the deal was announced, there was little to suggest that Damjanovic would be anything different.
He had scored goals back in his home region and impressed during a short spell in Saudi Arabia but few in Incheon knew that they were about to sign a true star.
“I thought ’South Korea? It’s so far away.’ It’s a different country, everything is different. It is eleven hours away by plane,” he said, sitting in Incheon’s former World Cup Stadium on a pleasant spring afternoon.
“I signed a contract for this year. If I play well then I think the club will want to extend my contract then no problem. I said to my manager that ’if they want me to stay and we can agree conditions then I want to stay.”
He didn’t stay. Not because he did badly but because he did well. He scored 14 league goals in that first season and finished as second high- est goalscorer in the league. FC Seoul was impressed and paid a significant transfer fee. It was perhaps the best deal the club ever did.
The goals have not stopped coming and he is feared around the continent after scoring more goals than any other striker bar two in the Asian Champions League.
But it is not just about the goals. Damjanovic is loved by Seoul fans (and respected by others, even those of rivals Suwon Bluewings) for the way he plays. He gives everything and expects the same of his team-mates. Fans know that as long as he is on the field, he will do all he can to score. Watch him in training at Seoul’s clubhouse that lies on the Gangbyeon Expressway, and he is exactly the same.
And while every good striker should be a little selfish and singleminded, the Montenegrin is always ready to pass to a colleague in a better position. His vision, awareness and experience gives him excellent understanding of what is going on around him.
About to turn 36, it remains to be seen how long Dejan — everyone in Korea knows him by his first name — can continue at such a level but the goals are still coming. When his time comes to an end, Korean football will have lost a genuine legend that is loved in Seoul and respected all over Asia.