Football News – Suwon Bluewings claimed the 2009 Pan-Pacific Championship title after beating the Los Angeles Galaxy on a penalty shootout on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

The two sides weren’t only going for the place of Pan-Pacific champions, but both teams were fighting for the pride of their respective leagues.

After taking the entire first 45 minutes to get in rhythm against China’s Shandong Luneng last Wednesday, the four-time K-League champions again got off to a slow start against the Galaxy.

The two-time MLS champions played solid defence once again as shown against Oita Trinita three nights ago when they won 2-0. With Galaxy’s physical toughness on the defensive end, Suwon weren’t able to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities for majority of the first half.

A perfect opportunity for the Bluewings to take the lead came in the 28th minute mark. Edu quickly penetrated the right flank and crossed the ball into the box. The ball went straight to Choi Sung-hyeon for an easy tap in, but Choi’s effort went high.

However, Suwon’s lead came at an unexpected moment ten minutes after. Kim Dae-eui launched the ball from midfield to catch Choi Sung-hyeon who was trying to make a run into the box.

Galaxy defender Sean Franklin quickly reacted to head the ball out of danger, but his header took a strange bounce and lobbed over the LA shot-stopper Josh Saunders to give the Korean club the lead going into halftime.

The second half started with Galaxy once again trying to impose their physical prowess. In the 51st minute, Chris Klein’s cross from the right flank was delivered perfectly to Alan Gordon who had his back to goal right in front of the Suwon goalkeeper Park Ho-jin.

Gordon fired a shot after a nifty spin move, only to see his effort go wide of the post.   It looked as though Suwon were on their way to a relatively easy win against the home side when the Galaxy finally got penalized for their rough challenges.

It was Franklin once again who advanced up into the midfield to battle for the ball and got whistled for a foul. He was shown a straight red card for swinging his leg too high for the ball, shortening Galaxy to ten men with 11 minutes left in the match.

But the Galaxy didn’t give up. They continued to push forward for an equalizer and just two minutes before the 90 minute mark, Suwon defender Luiz Alves was called for a foul inside the box for pulling Edson Buddle.

Galaxy’s second half substitute Mike Magee converted the penalty to pull level, sending the match to penalty shootout. The rule of this competition has been that if the match is level after 90 minutes, it would go straight into penalty shootout without extra time.

However, the home team fell short despite the dramatic equalizer late in regulation. All first four of Suwon players converted their penalties with relative ease, while Galaxy’s Buddle and Kyle Patterson both missed theirs. Fourth kicker Patterson’s hard struck shot was brilliantly saved by Park Ho-jin, who played a huge role in this match all throughout.