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| The K League 1 2024 third round match between FC Seoul and Jeju United at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 16th, and Seoul's Ilyuchenko is sharing joy after scoring the first penalty goal. Sangam = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2024.03.16/ |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Proven goaltender Ilyuchenko will leave Seoul and wear the Suwon uniform.
According to a transfer market official on the 1st, Suwon recruited Ilyuchenko, who was released as a free agent (FA) player after December 2024.
Suwon, which failed to advance to the playoffs by ranking sixth in the final rankings due to its lack of scoring ability, which only scored 46 goals and ranked seventh overall in the K League 2 in the 2024 season, made up its mind to separate from the existing Mulich early on and searched for a proven striker. The highest score in Suwon's team last season was Mulich, who scored 10 goals, and Kim Hyun, who scored 5 goals in second place. Thanks to the performance of Mateus (7 goals and 11 assists), the K League 2 MVP winner, Anyang, which was promoted for the first time since its foundation, and Chungnam Asan, which advanced to the promotion play-off by ranking runner-up with Juninho (12 goals and 8 assists), proved that proven foreigners are a must, not a choice.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Ilyuchenko, who entered the K-League in 2019 and went through Pohang (2019-2020), Jeonbuk (2021-2022), and Seoul (2022-2024), scored 71 goals and 18 assists in a total of 171 games in six seasons, was considered the most attractive target among strikers on the FA market. Despite being 34 years old, Iulichenko scored 14 goals last season to rank second in the scoring list.
Since 2021, Cesinha (73 goals) is the only player who has scored more goals than Ilyuchenko. During the same period, Ilyuchenko tied with Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan), the national team's striker. He maintained a high scoring average of 0.42 goals per game.
Ilyuchenko, who has a solid physique of 1m87 and 82kg, is expected to revitalize Suwon's offense and add destructive power as he is considered to be excellent not only in scoring but also in post play and linked play with his teammates around him.
Suwon also had Brazilian side striker Bruno Silva, who was the mainstay of E-Land's gust last season, as an FA along with Ilyuchenko. Bruno Silva scored 11 goals and six assists in the K League 2 last season. He also scored in the second round of the promotion playoff against Jeonbuk.
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| 브루노 실바. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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Suwon manager Byun Sung-hwan aims to challenge direct promotion in 2025, the second season in K League 2 after relegation, with a powerful triangular formation leading to Ilyuchenko, Paulinho and Bruno Silva. Ilyuchenko, who played a super match against Suwon as a member of Seoul and scored a 1-0 winning goal in their showdown in September 2023, is now determined to help Suwon's promotion.
Coach Byun has already been busy planning for the new season for a month. He started training for the new season early on December 2nd last year. He will build up his body at the Hwaseong clubhouse until July 7 and move to Bangkok, Thailand on August 8 to hold the first winter training for about three weeks until July 28.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
