Jeju United’s victory against Gangwon FC in just 6 moves was a ‘victory of faith’.
Jeju coach Nam Ki-il spent a lot of time touching the hearts of the players ahead of the 6th round of ‘Hanawon Q K League 1 2023′ with Gangwon held at Chuncheon Sports Complex on the 9th. He interviewed mainly senior players such as Koo Ja-cheol and Kim O-gyu, trying to relieve the players’ pressure due to the initial sluggishness and to lift the depressed atmosphere. There were only 16 field players participating in the training because key resources such as Lee Chang-min, Lim Chae-min, Choi Young-joon, Jeong Un, Yeon Je-woon, Jin Seong-wook, Ahn Hyeon-beom, and Ahn Tae-hyun were injured one after another, but they did not want to hide behind the plausible excuse of injury.
Coach Nam said, “Looking back, I only thought, ‘It would have been nice if the injured came back.’ . Steady communication between coach-athlete and player-athlete led to a consensus among the players, ‘Let’s focus a little more on each other and dedicate ourselves to the team’. The front desk also helped with a beef dinner for the players.
The players, no matter who they were, threw themselves for the first victory. In particular, Koo Ja-cheol took the lead. On this day, he recorded the most shots (3), the most passes (48), and the second most aerial successes (9) on the team. Goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun blocked the decisive shot by Yang Hyeon-joon and Lim Chang-woo with his body. Defender Kim Oh-kyu shouted and encouraged his teammates around him.
In the 30th minute of the second half, an opportunity came to Jeju, who withstood Gangwon’s relentless attack without conceding a goal. In the 8th minute of the second half, striker Seo Jin-soo, born in 2000, who was replaced by midfielder Han Jong-moo, born in 2003, aimed for the lower right corner of the goal from the front of the arc, and his right-footed shot went straight into the net. Seo Jin-soo, who was expected to become the ace of Jeju in the 2023 season, took off the burden with the winning goal in 6 games.
Director Nam only laughed after the final whistle blew. Over the past 10 years, Nam led 340 games with Gwangju, Seongnam and Jeju and won 126 times. His 126th victory against Gangwon was more valuable than any other victory.안전놀이터 Director Nam smiled bitterly, saying, “It’s fortunate that there were no injuries.” At the press conference, he said, “It’s a victory that players can have confidence in,” but the worries didn’t end there. While there is no sign of the injured returning immediately, a forced march awaits, with Changwon City Hall in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on the 12th and Suwon Samsung in the 7th round of the league on the 15th. Coach Nam said, “I will prepare for the next game with confidence.”