Yongin → Jeonju → Sydney → Jeonju, 10 days to go...The report card accepted by Jeonbuk and Foyet is

Mar 05, 2025

◇photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association

What kind of report card will Jeonbuk Hyundai accept in the 10-day long march.

Jeonbuk Hyundai, led by head coach Gus Foyet, met its first crisis of the season. He faced a situation where he had to produce results while going back and forth between the K League 1 and the Asian Champions League 2 (ACL2). If all of them win, they can take a step closer to their goal of raising the mood at the beginning of the season and winning East Asia, but they could be pushed into the worst situation of being hit hard.

Jeonbuk will play Sydney FC (Australia) in the first round of the 2024-2025 ACL2 quarterfinals at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 6th. The home stadium, Jeonju World Cup Stadium, was judged as a result of due diligence by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and was forced to play a home game in the third stadium. In the end, he left his home ground and played a match against Sydney at an unaccompanied stadium.

After the match against Sydney FC, Jeonbuk will play Gangwon FC in the fourth round of the 2025 K League 1 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 9th. After that, they will play the second round of the ACL2 quarterfinals against Sydney FC at Sydney Football Stadium on the 13th (Korea time), and have the fifth round of the K League against the Pohang Steelers in Jeonju on the 16th.

◇photo courtesy of Jeonbuk Hyundai

The distance from Jeonju to Yongin is not that far. However, considering the travel and accommodation required for a match in Yongin, rather than a normal home turf, fatigue will inevitably increase. He has to take just two days off and face Gangwon, which has a formidable power.

It's also a problem after the match against Gangwon. It travels long distances to Sydney, Australia, which is 9 hours away one way. You have to spend a whole day going from Jeonju to Sydney via Incheon International Airport. Considering that Australia in the southern hemisphere is the opposite in terms of climate, it may be smoother to play than in a cold country, but it is obvious that it will not be easy to control conditions due to the sudden change in weather.

After the Sydney FC match, the pressure is the biggest. It is not easy to leave the country on the same day because the game is held in the evening. If you leave the next day and return home in the afternoon, you have only 15 days to rest before the match against Pohang. If the accumulated fatigue of the previous three games is added, the match against Pohang will inevitably be held at the lowest point in the condition cycle.

◇photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association

Jeonbuk played four games in 10 days last month. The result was good. After winning 4-0 in the first round of the ACL2 Round of 16 in Bangkok, Thailand, Port FC, they came from behind to win 2-1 over Gimcheon Sangmu on their home turf Jeonju. After winning 1-0 in the second round of the round of 16 against Port FC in Jeonju, they drew 2-2 at home against Gwangju FC. After returning from Bangkok, he played three consecutive games in Jeonju, which greatly reduced his physical burden. There is a difference from this case of repeated movement.

Coach Foyet has not made a significant change in the composition of the squad while playing ACL2 and K League 1. However, changes seem inevitable in the four consecutive games over the past 10 days, when fatigue and physical burden are maximized. Except for Andrea Compagno, how to use native players is expected to be the key to the game amid the sluggishness and injuries of other foreign players.