"'I will win today' 'K League 1 champion' Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon's pain of losing all five games'Last game', Yoo Jong's promise of beauty
Dec 04, 2024
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Ulsan will play the sixth game of the ACLE League Stage in the 2024-2025 season against Shanghai Shenhua at Shanghai Stadium in China at 9 p.m. on the 4th (Korea time). The ACL was reorganized into ACLE and ACL2 this season.
ACLE has been changed to a way in which the top 24 teams in Asia (East Asia 12 and West Asia 12) participate. Each team will play four home and away games, a total of eight games. Eight of the 12 East Asian teams will advance to the round of 16.
Unlike the joy of the K-League, Ulsan is experiencing the worst slump in ACLE. He remains at the bottom of the table after losing all of the first to fifth games. He also scored just one goal. The possibility of advancing to the round of 16 is approaching 'zero'. Ulsan can only hope for a miracle if it wins both Buriram United (Thailand) and Shandong Taishan (China) in February next year, including the match against Shanghai.
It is Ulsan's last game in 2024. Ulsan's team, including head coach Kim Pan-gon, vowed to achieve its first ACLE victory in an away match in Shanghai.
Coach Kim said on the 3rd, a day before the showdown, `We just finished the K-League season. It's been a very long season. Tomorrow is the 55th and final game of the year. As everyone knows, Shanghai Shenhua is one of the strongest teams in the Chinese league. We respect Shanghai Shenhua and at the same time try our best. We haven't won the ACLE yet. Therefore, we need to win tomorrow, and we will do our best" he said.
Ulsan has faced Shanghai twice. When they defeated Asia in the 2020 season, they won 3-1 in the second round of the group stage and 4-1 in the sixth round. The goal is to achieve a successful finish in the match in four years.
Coach Kim came to ACLE and had high expectations and high goals as a coach. When he was appointed in the middle of the season, there was a mission to win three consecutive games with the team in fourth place in the league. The first goal was to move to the top of the league. As a result, I couldn't put all my energy into ACLE. As a result, we lost a lot of games."
He continued "After the last game, let's go all out." At home, I tried to put in elite players properly. I played well. I thought it was a good game and dominated against Shanghai Port. However, there was a part where a loss was caused by a mistake while playing. There is no guarantee that every game will be won. He keeps saying to win while dominating the game"I told the players that I would win without fail. In the same direction, he tries to increase the probability of winning with a good appearance. After that, we accept the results and try to move forward. That way, you can go for a long time. Since tomorrow is not the last game, I said, "Let's do what we've been doing and focus and pursue victory."
Ulsan has been running breathlessly this season as well. He defended the throne in K League 1 and set up a golden tower with three consecutive wins and five career wins. Cho Hyun-woo won the goalkeeper MVP for the first time in 16 years since 2008, and was selected as the best 11 goalkeeper for eight consecutive times in K League 1.
Cho Hyun-woo was the only player in the entire pre-match time in the K-League 1 and 2 with the player of the year selected by the EASPORTS FC user. Kim Ki-hee, Ko Seung-beom, and Lee Myung-jae were also selected as the best 11 with Cho Hyun-woo, producing the most best players. In addition, the K-League Awards ceremony was decorated with fan friendly club awards, K-League youth club awards, and playing coach Park Chu-young's achievement awards.
In the Korea Cup, Ulsan also advanced to the final by beating Gyeongnam FC, Incheon United, and Gwangju FC in succession. On the 30th of last month, he played the East Coast Derby with the Pohang Steelers for the first time in the history of the Korea Cup at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Joo Min-kyu led Lee Chung-yong's cross with a header in the first half, but he allowed an equalizer in the second half. After a fierce game, he entered overtime, and lost 1-3 by conceding two goals in the second half of extra time.
Although the recapture of the championship trophy failed for the first time in seven years, he is determined to shake off his disappointment and finish the season neatly with a turnaround with a victory in the away game in Shanghai.
Jang Si-young, who attended the press conference with head coach Kim, said "It's the last game of the year and the road to the round of 16 is still open. Our team also worked hard to prepare as one. In the Chinese Super League, I heard that Shanghai Shenhua is the least losing team. I will prepare well accordingly and make sure to win tomorrow."
He also added "I think I'll have a good chance to play tomorrow. I came to the expedition like this. It was a very long time. I don't think it's going to be an easy game, but since it's the last game of the year, I won't regret it," he added.
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