More time needed before Ange returns but Taggart should be polishing his boots

Ange Postecoglou will have to wait a while to get back to work in Japan but Adam Taggart may be the first big-name Australian star to return to action after the coronavirus outbreak, which has brought world football to a standstill.

The big question around Asia may be about when the leagues will start to restart but one thing is for sure - if Taggart matches his 2019 South Korean goal tally in 2020, it will be a superhuman effort. 

South Korea’s K-League is not that far away from finally starting a season that should have kicked off on February 29.

The date is yet to be set - with the decision expected in around two weeks, but it is almost certain that the campaign will be a shortened one. 

The 12 teams in the top tier usually play a 38-game season, 33 regular games and then five more as the league splits into two groups of six: the championship half and the relegation half. 

"We haven't entirely ruled out a 32-match or 33-match season," a K-League official said.

"But considering the number of days available, we're leaning toward a 27-match schedule. We need to decide how many matches would be sufficient to constitute a season.

"Basically, every club would have to play once each at home and away."
It all depends on when the league restarts. After a February 29 peak of 900 new coronavirus cases, the rate of infections have been around 50 a day all this week. 

Assuming the trend continues in a positive direction, the Korean baseball league said on Tuesday that they hope to start pre-season friendly games on April 21 and the season proper in early May.

Football is happy to let baseball go first, as there is some reluctance at KFA house in Seoul at being the pioneers.

The situation is, at the moment, less clear in Japan.

Cases are rising in the country and on Tuesday evening, prime minister Shinzo Abe announced a state of emergency that covered seven prefectures.  

The J.League did manage to get off the mark with the first round of games in February, though Vissel Kobe did encourage fans not to chant, wave flags or move around too much - clapping was fine.

The initial restart date was April 3, then it was May 9 and it was announced on Wednesday that there would be nothing before May 30.

There is some good news for goalkeeper Mitch Langerak however.

Whatever happens, there will be no relegation this season which means that Nagoya Grampus, who struggled last year, don’t have to worry about avoiding the drop.

China opened the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak in December, on Wednesday.
All 16 Chinese Super League teams are back in the country after overseas training camps, having completed mandatory 14-day quarantine periods and are now in full training ahead for what is expected to be a late May or early June restart.

Again there is some trepidation at actually taking to the pitch and while Korean football is happy for baseball to take the lead, the league in China wouldn’t mind the K-League going first.

The situation is also up in the air in Asia’s other major leagues.

Brad Jones, Craig Goodwin and Rhys Williams will not be in action in Saudi Arabia any time soon.

On Tuesday, Riyadh’s health minister warned of a possible 200,000 cases in the coming weeks and parts of the country are under lockdown. 

Over in Southeast Asia, the likes of the redoubtable Taylor Regan and Anthony Golec in Malaysia are not training at the moment due to the country’s lockdown.

Singapore seemed to have the virus in check but a recent rise in cases led authorities to announce a month-long lockdown earlier this week, meaning that Zac Anderson will be of action for longer. 


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4 min read
Published 9 April 2020 12:29pm
By John Duerden

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