It is a painful defeat for the Pohang Steelers.
Pohang lost 0-1 in the third match of the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation Champions League Elite (ACLE) league stage against Buriram United at Chang Arena in Buriram, Thailand on the 22nd.
Pohang failed to recover after allowing Guillermi Visoli to score the first goal in the 11th minute of the second half.
Until the first half of this season, Pohang showed strong performance by competing for the lead in the K League 1, but its pace fell sharply after the middle. In particular, after Lee Ho-jae, the key player of the attack, was out of power due to injury, the weight of the front fell noticeably.
His scoring ability was disappointing in the match against Buriram as well. He attempted 11 shots in 90 minutes, but his shots were not as detailed as he only made one shot on target. He tried to target the Buriram defense line with Jorge and Baek Sung-dong, but it was not enough. He led the away game with 60.6 percent of the ball possession, but lost the game scoreless due to lack of completeness. For Pohang, this is a result that could leave an internal injury.
“We recognized it all year round and tried to supplement it. We created an opportunity in this game, but we got a disappointing result. I think the lack of concentration and physical ability contributed to the scoreless result,” Pohang coach Park Tae-ha said.
The bigger problem is physical stamina. Pohang will play in the 35th round of the K League 1 against its rival Ulsan HD on Tuesday at its home. Pohang is currently in fourth place. It is two points behind FC Seoul, which is ranked fifth. To play in the ACL next season, he needs to maintain his current position at least. If it falls below fifth place and fails to win the Korea Cup, it will not be able to play in the Asian Games next season. It has no choice but to focus on the K League 1 match. Moreover, it is a rival. 메이저사이트
The away trip to Buriram is infamous for the K-League team. Pohang players are bound to be exhausted due to the long travel distance. However, Pohang is not a team with enough available resources to enable a wide rotation.
Coach Park said, “First of all, we forget the game quickly, and since there is an important East Coast derby, we need to recover as soon as possible and change the atmosphere so that it does not interfere with the game.”