Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, who faced Ulsan HD as a member of the Kawasaki Frontale in the Japanese J League, commented on the grass condition of the stadium.
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, with the K League 1 winner last season, Pohang the FA Cup winner, and Gwangju the third place in the 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.
The goalkeeper of Kawasaki who blocked Ulsan’s wave offensive on the day was Jung Sung-ryong, the former goalkeeper of the Korean national soccer team. When asked about the grass at Munsu Football Stadium in the mixed zone after the match, he said, 안전놀이터 “It was difficult for Kawasaki who played an away game on the day, but Ulsan players will have a hard time in the long run. Japan is in relatively good grass condition. I think Korea lost a lot of grass due to the heat wave this year. I hope the grass condition improves to prevent injury to the players.”
As a player with Kawasaki for nine seasons, he said, “Honestly, I didn’t expect to play this long in one team. However, as I have done my best for my team every year, I feel like I have come this far. I want to continue to do my best as far as I can.”