 Some of the key Korean foundation players included Lee Sang-il, who had played domestic football in Belgium, and Park Jong-jin who has played all his domestic football with Daegu, bar a two-year spell with Gwangju Sangmu when undertaking his military service.Many of the Korean foundation players came to the club via University Football clubs, which meant that Daegu was their first experience of professional football.The K-League structure for 2003 required each team to play 44 matches, making for a long drawn out season.