Ulsan HD coach Kim Pan-gon, who suffered a home loss in the first match of the Asian stage this season, stressed that the team should be more alert and raise performance.
Ulsan lost 0-1 at home to Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) in the first leg of the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE) League Stage at 7 p.m. on the 18th at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan.
The ACLE has been changed to include the top 24 teams (East Asia 12 and West Asia 12) from the 2024-2025 season. Ulsan will participate in this competition, the best club competition in Asia, as the winner of last season’s K League 1.
The East Asian regional league stage will take place for about five months, starting with the first leg on Thursday and ending with the eighth leg on Feb. 19, 2025. Each team will play four home and away games, for a total of eight games. After the league stage ends, the top eight teams in the East and West Asian leagues will advance to the round of 16.
In the 9th minute of the second half, Kawasaki foreign midfielder Marcinho’s right foot shot, which dribbled from the left side to the center and curled up, was inserted into the right side of the Ulsan goal, leading to a loss. Ulsan goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, who is also the gatekeeper for the Korean men’s national soccer team, stretched out all over but could not be stopped.
Unfortunately, Ulsan was blocked by Kawasaki’s hand-to-hand defense and failed to hunt for an equalizer and finished its first ACLE match at home with a loss.
Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon said in a press conference after the match, “We apologize for showing disappointment and result to our home fans who came to the stadium despite the fact that it was a national holiday. We put weight on the team in the second half, but lost a point under poor circumstances. We will prepare well for the rest of the schedule and bring results.” 스포츠토토
Kim continued, “Ulsan is a team that represents the K-League in Asia, so we have to show good performance to the fans of both the team and the league. While Gwangju got off to a good start, we couldn’t. We will make up for it in the remaining schedule.”
“I made a plan in the big picture, and I never thought I would lose on this day. However, it turned out to be a loss, so I will look back on the game and deal with it well to make my future schedule better,” he said.