Despite such poor conditions, Gwangju is the only team in the ACLE East Asian group where top Asian clubs compete to win three consecutive games. The ACL is a competition in which even the two modern family clubs with the best K-League environment and the Pohang Steelers, a renowned K-League club, are struggling. It is noteworthy that Gwangju, which plays soccer in the worst environment in the K-League 1, is performing the best among K-League teams.
Above all, Gwangju sticks to its own style even when it is difficult to concentrate on the game due to external factors. Coach Lee Jung-hyo, even though he is leading the game, gets angry and yells furiously if the players do not play as they have prepared. He thinks that the moment he gives up his philosophy is the end. It is also Gwangju’s attraction that attracts soccer fans in Gwangju Metropolitan City, where baseball’s popularity is soaring.
Coach Lee Jung-hyo said, “If it is difficult to pour 100 percent, I will pour 200 percent or 300 percent. Players are the same. If the environment does not match, I will make efforts to produce results. Gwangju is showing that it is possible to overcome the environment through efforts.
Gwangju FC is a club that sadly never leaves out when discussing the poor environment. Gwangju is a team whose environment cannot support the team to the extent that it is difficult for players to focus solely on soccer.
Since head coach Lee Jung-hyo took the helm of Gwangju, he has consistently emphasized the need to improve the environment, but nothing has changed much as a result. The grass condition of the Gwangju Football Center (training ground), which opened in June with a large amount of money, as well as its home stadium, Gwangju Football Stadium, is serious enough to cause injuries to players. Manager Lee Jung-hyo also said, “There is no other stadium (in) worse condition than Gwangju.”
This is why Gwangju played the third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) league stage against Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia) at Yongin Mir Stadium, about 300 kilometers away from Gwangju, not Gwangju World Cup Stadium on the 22nd.
After the second home game of the league stage against Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) on the 17th of last month, Gwangju received an official letter from AFC saying it should look for an alternative stadium due to poor grass management at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, which Gwangju uses as its home stadium in ACLE. As a result, Gwangju decided to play at Yongin Mir Stadium, which was also used as a temporary home stadium by the Korean national soccer team, and had to play a home game that was not like a home game.
Grass is not the only problem. Lack of administration and insufficient finances are also hampering it. Gwangju has a thin base of players even within the K-League, but in June, the club failed to recruit new players even after sending out thumbs-up, a key resource, during the additional registration period as it failed to meet the conditions of the K-League’s fiscal consolidation system.
With the league, Korea Cup, and ACLE to play together, Gwangju faced a limit in rotation. This was also shown in the performance. In the league, they failed to reach the final B, and in the Korea Cup, where they reached their first semifinal, they failed to advance to the final.
Coach Lee Jung-hyo sighed after losing 0-1 in the first round of the Korea Cup semifinal against Ulsan HD in August, saying, “There is a regret that ‘If only we had a little more financially (if it had been good), if we had one or two players a little more’. Then I think our players can bring results without playing such a disappointing game.”
“Players are squeezing them out. They shouted like crazy people outside and tried to energize them. I think the players are doing their best,” coach Lee Jung-hyo said after the match. Gwangju’s performance is all the more reason. 먹튀검증
Gwangju will try to win four consecutive ACLE games in an away game against Vissel Kobe (Japan) on the 5th of next month.
“We have shown our superiority in passing plays against Kawasaki and Yokohama,” Lee Hee-kyun, coach Lee Jung-hyo’s favorite player, said. “I want to see how Vissel Kobe is doing these days. I want to win and cheer him up.”