“What if you score a goal? I’m thinking of dancing, too.”
Baek Ji-woong (20·Seoul E-Land), a rookie player born in 2004, has much higher expectations than his fear for the K-League 2024 promotion and playoffs (PO) to be held on the 1st and 8th of next month. “I’ve always wanted to play with the K-League 1 team, but I think it’s great,” he said with a smile.
Baek Ji-woong, who started his professional career by joining E-Land in July, shook the net in the 36th minute of the second half, when he was 1-2 behind the Jeonnam Dragons in the K League 2 PO on the 24th, by connecting a ball given by Bruno Silva’s head with a header from a corner kick chance. A professional debut goal in 12 games led E-Land to advance to the first-ever promotion PO.
Now, E-Land can compete in the top-tier league for the first time since its foundation in 2014 if it catches Jeonbuk, the 10th-ranked team in the K-League. Baek said, “I’m going to lose. To be honest, Jeonbuk is in a position that it should be afraid of. We have to lose anyway. We want to work as hard as possible to achieve our goal of promotion.”
Baek, who played as a substitute in the second half of the match against South Jeolla Province, is actually a defensive midfielder in his main position. He can also play as a center back like Osmar, his role model. Baek is tall at 1 meter and 88 centimeters, and boasts both defense and ball rationing abilities.
If he plays his position in Jeonbuk and the promotion PO, it is Baek Ji-woong’s mission to block strikers with high name values. “I think we need to stick to it more tightly to not give space (to Jeonbuk strikers),” he said. “I’m motivated because I’ve seen them on TV since middle and high school.”
In particular, he expected a showdown with Lee Seung-woo, the star player of the K-League. “I’ve seen him do so many ceremonies because he is so good at them. If I see him dancing in front of me, I think I’ll get scratched (emphasizing anger). I just have to block him,” Baek said. “If I think of anything, I’ll imitate him (Lee Seung-woo’s dance).” 안전놀이터
Baek Ji-woong, who is facing the most important match in career history, stressed, “I want to prepare well and produce good results. I have greed, but I want to focus on my mission as much as possible and focus on not scoring goals.”
The first round of the promotion PO, which will determine the fate of the two teams, will be held at Mokdong Stadium, E-Land’s home, and the second round will be held at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonbuk’s home ground.