The goalkeeper is no longer an avoiding position. It’s an important position in modern football, but we don’t know much about goalkeepers. So ‘Inter Football’ prepared it. ‘Legend’ Choi In-young, who was the first goalkeeper in the World Cup in Korean soccer history and opened the era of goalkeeper star players, tells a different soccer story. [Editor’s Note]
Last weekend, I had some free time, so I watched the K-League opening game carefully. While watching the K-League really fun, I think that the K-League can be globally competitive, and I am going to write down my thoughts.안전놀이터
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Korean players showed a game of doing their best without giving up until the end. There was a lot of applause for this fighting spirit. It is no exaggeration to say that Korean football has taken a leap forward.
Among the current national team players, there are many players who are playing in Europe or the Middle East, but in order to raise the level of Korean football, the K-League needs to develop, and I think the opening game of the 2023 season was successful.
‘Defending champion’ Ulsan Hyundai won the victory against ‘rival’ Jeonbuk Hyundai without losing concentration until the end, and the home fans went wild. In addition, Daejeon Hana Citizen, who was promoted to the first division this season, met Gangwon and won, and last season’s K-League 2 champion Gwangju FC defeated Suwon Samsung 1-0. These were two games where you could see the competitiveness of the promoted team.
Pohang Steelers brought joy to the fans with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Daegu FC at home, and FC Seoul also predicted a revival by defeating Incheon United 2-1 at home. In particular, Seoul is interested in whether it will rise again as a strong player in the K-League by recruiting Hwang Ui-jo and Im Sang-hyeop.
The K-League 2 also opened amid interest from soccer fans. With the joining of the new teams Chungbuk Cheongju FC and Cheonan City, a fiercer ranking competition is foreshadowed, and it is not easy to predict which team will advance to K-League 1, especially this season. Once you come down to K-League 2, it is difficult to go up again. Teams that showed good performances in the past, such as Busan, Gyeongnam, and Jeonnam, are now in the K-League 2.
As I focus on the K-League, I can find differences from European soccer. In European soccer, when an opponent’s attack is blocked, all players immediately switch to the attack and aim for a goal, but in the K-League, if the central defender cuts off the opponent’s attack, it can often be seen that the player returns to the defense instead of participating in the attack. If you do this, you will probably buy time to switch to defense in the opponent’s camp.
Even if only this point is changed, the football tempo can be considerably faster and the K-League can be more competitive. This is because it will show a speedy game with fast development. Leaders also need to encourage them to play more aggressively.