At the professional soccer K League 1 media day event held at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul on the 26th, coaches of each team are taking a commemorative photo with the championship trophy in the center. From the left, Eun-joong Kim of Suwon FC, Incheon Cho Seong-hwan, Jeong-hyo Lee of Gwangju, Hak-beom Kim of Jeju, Myeong-bo Hong of Ulsan, Ki-dong Kim of Seoul, Tae-ha Park of Pohang, Daejeon Lee Min-seong, Jeonbuk Dan Petrescu, Jeong-hwan Yoon of Gangwon, Won-kwon Choi of Daegu, and Jeong Jeong-yong of Gimcheon.
K-League opens on the 1st of next month… Ulsan Hong Myung-bo, who won the 3rd and 9th rounds, said, “Regardless of my will, the national team coach Hama-pyeong… “It was difficult” Jeonbuk coach: “We will win at least one cup” Lingard recruited, Seoul suddenly becomes a ‘breakthrough team’
“Excluding the three teams Ulsan, Jeonbuk, and FC Seoul, I think the remaining teams will be similar.”
The 2024 season K-League 1 (first division league) opening media day event was held at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul on the 26th. When asked, ‘Please predict the league situation this season,’ Suwon FC coach Kim Eun-joong, who took the microphone for the second time, said, ‘It is the top 3 and the top 9.’ Then most of the other team coaches agreed. Incheon coach Cho Seong-hwan said, “If Seoul catches on well in the early part of the season, there will likely be a competition among three teams for the championship. He said, “The rest of the teams have similar strengths, so I think the outcome will depend on the conditions on the day of the game.”
Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo said, “Before we even decided on our team goal for this year, many people set our goal to win the league three times in a row,” and added, “We still have some shortcomings to achieve our goal, but we will prepare well.” Ulsan is attempting to win its third consecutive title, something only two teams, Jeonbuk and Seongnam, have achieved in the K-League. Jeonbuk lost 5 times in a row, the most in K League history, from 2017 to 2021, and Seongnam, a member of K League 2 (second division) this season, lost 3 times in a row, twice in 1993 to 1995 and 2001 to 2003 during the Seongnam Ilhwa era.
Ulsan's journey to three consecutive losses is not easy. The teams capable of competing for the championship have become stronger. After the dismissal of former Korean national soccer team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, the team atmosphere is somewhat chaotic as coach Hong is mentioned as a likely successor. Coach Hong, who attended the Media Day event on this day, said, “It has been very difficult in the last few days because I was talked about (as the national team coach) against my will. I know nothing about this situation. “It reminded me of the old days and it was a difficult time,” he said. Coach Hong, who was at the helm of the national team during the 2014 Brazil World Cup, was eliminated in the group stage.
Jeonbuk, which is attempting to ‘rebuild a famous team', is considered the team that can compete with Ulsan, which is aiming for its third consecutive league title. Jeonbuk, the team that won the most K-League titles (nine times), ranked fourth last season. Coach Dan Petrescu, who leads Jeonbuk, said, “We will show a better performance than last year. “I will bring at least one championship trophy for Jeonbuk fans,” he said. Jeonbuk, which ranked 7th out of 12 teams last year with 45 goals, strengthened its attack power by recruiting foreign player Thiago, who played in Daejeon. Thiago scored 17 goals last season.
Lingard
Seoul is also evaluated as a rival to Ulsan. Seoul, which ranked 7th in the league last season, entrusted the baton to coach Kim Ki-dong, who led Pohang. Seoul is being mentioned as a candidate for the championship by recruiting Jesse Lingard, who played for Manchester United in the English Premier League (EPL) and the England national team.
In this season's K-League 1, the battle for rankings is expected to be so fierce that it will be difficult to pick a weak team other than the top three. Gwangju, which caused the surprise of taking third place as a promoted team last season, is evaluated as a force capable of competing for the semifinals this season. There were also voices calling for attention to be paid to the fact that Jeju coach Kim Hak-beom, who led Korean soccer to victory at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, returned to the K-League after six years. Coach Kim Hak-beom, 64 years old, is the oldest head coach in the K League. Director Kim Ki-dong said, “Director Kim Hak-beom has a lot of experience. His charisma is also rated as the best. “I expect that Jeju’s good past will come out,” he said. Gimcheon coach Jeong Jeong-yong, who returned to K-League 1 this season, said, “I will do my best in every game with the mindset of a challenger.” This season's professional soccer K-League 1 will begin a nine-month long journey, starting with the official opening match between defending champion Ulsan and last year's Korea Football Association (FA) Cup winner Pohang on March 1. 섯다
