FC Seoul, which captured its second title in three years in South Korea’s top soccer league on Wednesday, has been as complete a team as they come this year.

FC Seoul reached 90 points in the ongoing K-League season with a 1-0 win over Jeju United Wednesday, 12 points clear of No. 2 team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with both clubs having three games left.

FC Seoul’s dominance in the 16-team K-League has been such that it remains the only club without consecutive losses this year.

This was the first season the K-League, founded in 1983, was played under the “split” format. The teams were divided into two tiers based on their records after 30 games, and then were to play 14 more games within the same group.

FC Seoul reached first place on Aug. 22, after its 29th game, and will end the season without having relinquished that position.

The team entered the split phase leading Jeonbuk by five points and the advantage has swelled to 12 with three games to go.

In assessing his team’s championship run, Choi Yong-soo, the winning head coach, took a page out of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, which won the World Series that year under the slogan, “We Are Family,” after a Sister Sledge hit single.

“I think our family-like atmosphere has been the major reason behind our success,” Choi said. “I am proud of our players for following my lead all season. I would like to thank those who made it possible for everyone, from players to coaches, to grow together as a team.”

Given the coach’s emphasis on the team concept, it would be easy to look past the star-studded lineup.

This certainly is not a team of scrappy players who, lacking talent, try to get by with grit. Rather, it’s a team of All-Star-level players at nearly every position and even on the bench.

They boast perhaps the K-League’s most lethal one-two punch up front.

Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic has scored 30 goals to set the new record for a season. His Colombian sidekick, Mauricio Molina, has 18 assists, also a single-season record.

Sergio Escudero, a Spain native naturalized as a Japanese citizen, has been a key cog in the offensive machine with his passing game from the left wing.

In the middle, captain Ha Dae-sung and Koh Myong-jin have enjoyed breakout years offensively, and were both named to the national team for South Korea’s most recent match earlier this month. 

(Yonhap News)