“You were so determined like a fighter”
It was Lee Chung-yong’s evaluation with Park Chu-young at Ulsan HD, who is about to retire at FC Seoul in the early days of his professional career.
Ulsan defeated Suwon, where Jung Seung-won scored multiple goals, 4-2 with consecutive goals of Yago, Kim Min-joon, Ataru and Park Chu-young in the 38th round of Hana Bank K League 1 against Suwon FC at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on the 23rd. Ulsan, which had already confirmed its league victory, decorated the coronation ceremony at home with 21 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses and 72 points.
In addition, Park Joo-young, who played as a substitute on the day, scored one goal and one assist, increasing the total number of K-League offensive points from 99 previously to 101.
When the score was 2 to 2, Park gave an assist to Ataru’s winning goal at the 39th minute of the second half to score his 100th offensive point. It was all the more meaningful for him because he was a teammate of FC Seoul when he was a rookie.
After the game, Lee Chung-yong, who met with reporters in the mixed zone (joint coverage area), said, “I think (Park) Joo-young waited so long. It was a very meaningful help to me because I was able to help the last goal, and I think today’s game was very good.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been playing a lot of games since I was so young, and now the coach has prepared me for the last two league games, so I vaguely imagined that it would be nice if Ju-young could help each other in the last game, whether it was a goal or not. I feel like that dream came true today,” he said. “It may not be important to others, but it was a very meaningful game for me.”
“I didn’t expect you to be this good. Honestly, my brother trained with our players during the season, but he played more roles as a coach in a way,” he said. “So I was a little worried about my physical condition, but I think it was a little over a week to prepare for the last match against Seoul and today’s match, but I think that was enough for him to show his performance so far. So I think I still felt, ‘Oh, he’s such a great player.’ “
Lee Chung-yong said, “It’s a very happy season and there have been a lot of bad things for our team, but I’m so happy to overcome those ups and downs and become the K-League champion again.” “I think it would have been very difficult without the support of the fans, but I think it’s a great season because I think we all achieved it together.”
After Park Chu-young scored, coach Kim Pan-gon and goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo ran to celebrate together.
“I was surprised to see Hyun-woo Cho and see him wearing a trench coat. Everyone was so happy at that moment,” Lee said. “Seeing him like that made me feel a little emotional. I think Joo-young was calm.”
Lee and Park have played together in numerous matches since they were young. They know each other so well that they can relate just by looking at their eyes. When asked if he was confident that Park would score a cross when he crossed the line, Lee said, “I knew Joo-young was there when I gave him a cross. I thought that if I go over the defense well now, I can score a goal somehow,” adding, “That’s why I saw that moment very slowly. It seemed like slow motion. As expected, it was a very happy game thanks to Joo-young for showing such determination like an adventurer.” 메이저놀이터
Before the opening of this season, it was unclear whether Lee would accompany Ulsan. Lee, however, settled down and served as a key midfielder from the middle of the season, leading Ulsan to its third consecutive league victory.
“There’s no decision yet on that (continuing to play for Ulsan), but the situation is that we have two ACL games left and we have the Korea Cup final left, so we’re focusing on that now,” Lee said. “I think there will be good opportunities if we produce good results. So I’m focusing on the game, and I’m thinking about it after that and then it’ll be decided.”