By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday – Coach Hong Myung-bo lowered his head while coach Park Tae-ha smiled with joy. This is the brief performance summary of five South Korean coaches in the Chinese Super League (CSL), which brought down the curtains on the 2016 season on Sunday. Coach Park produced a remarkable accomplishment by placing newly-promoted club Yanbian Fude to the 9th in the league. Meanwhile, coach Hong, who has been in the spotlight for taking the helm of Hangzhou Greentown, failed to prevent relegation to the second division next season.

Yanbian Fude FC's head coach Park Tae-ha and his squad players, who obtained decent result of being ranked 9th place in Chinese Super League. This result is considered almost a miracle in the Chinese world of soccer./ Source: Xinhua News Agency

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According to Chinese football industry sources on Monday, Jiangsu Suning's Choi Yong-soo, Chongqing Lifan's Chang Woe-ryong, and Changchun Yatai's Lee Jang-soo took an active part in the 2016 CSL along with the two managers above. However, the final spotlight of the league was firmly on the two coaches. This is because Park managed to win victory after victory coaching the newly promoted team for the first time while Hong's team faced the threat of relegation to the second division. Besides, the two coaches had to test fate together in the last round on Monday. No wonder the match was capturing fans' attention.  

The match took place at Hangzhou Huanglong Stadium, the home ground of Hong's team. However, the result was a disappointing 2-2 tie against Yanbian Fude, which was not good enough to get the team out of the relegation zone. As a result, Hong had to bend his head in just half a year after joining Hangzhou Greentown earlier this year as a hero. Meanwhile, coach Park emerged as a hero of Yanbian Fude, and even a hero of CSL after ending this season.

There are reasons for Park's success with Yanbian. Most of all, he coached players with respect and trust. Besides, his positive attitude and constantly striving to give his best as a leader, as well as his ability to put the right man in the right place contributed to his success story.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Super League season ended with defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande winning their sixth consecutive CSL titles.