Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC coach Kim Doo-hyun, who operated a large number of rotations, swallowed his regret for the loss.
Jeonbuk lost 1-2 to Slangor in the third away match of Group H of the 2024/25 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL2) at Shaalam Petaling Jaya Stadium in Malaysia on the 23rd (Korea time).
It is a shocking defeat. Jeonbuk (two wins, one loss and six points), which had maintained its top position in the group by garnering two consecutive wins before the match on the day, lost its lead to Slangor (two wins, one draw and seven points). Even if most of the main players did not accompany the team during the away match, it is an unexpected result.
Kim Doo-hyun pulled out a 4-4-2 formation. Kim Jung-hoon defended the goal, and Lee Soo-bin, Koo Ja-yong, Park Jae-yong, Jung Woo-jae, Choi Chul-soon, Kim Ha-joon, Park Chae-joon, Jin Tae-ho, Kwon Chang-hoon, and Yoo Je-ho started.
Jeonbuk, which allowed Haris Haical to score in the 31st minute of the first half, dedicated an additional goal to Ali Olwan exactly two minutes later, and Kwon Chang-hoon scored a goal in the 40th minute of the first half, but failed to score an equalizer in the end.
“It is regrettable that I lost the set piece due to my poor concentration. Nevertheless, I wanted to lead the game,” coach Kim Doo-hyun, who attended the post-match press conference, said. “I felt sorry for the first loss when the cross came up. I had to focus on the second ball and predict the location of the second loss. I will supplement my shortcomings with the players and show them a good performance in the next game.”
“Players might have lost motivation due to losing points in the early stages. I was able to maintain the mood by scoring one goal right away, but I regret that I failed to score a goal when I had a chance,” he said. “Young players tend to grow up through certain opportunities. The match against Slang would have been a good opportunity. They could have looked back on their preparation posture and direction. I think young players must have felt the barriers once again and thought about the future direction of their growth.” 토토사이트
Jeonbuk has been sluggish this season, but it cannot be denied that it is a strong candidate for the ALC2 title. “I know many people are looking forward to Jeonbuk’s advance to the round of 16. There is no important game in any one of them. At a time when we have to pour all our energy into the K-League 1, we need to prepare well for the ALC2. As for the ACL2, young players who have not received the opportunity are participating in the event, which is a positive factor. If the players engage in the game with motivation like this, good results will come out,” coach Kim Doo-hyun said.
Finally, Kim claimed that Slangor’s performance was far from advanced soccer. “Foreign players have made it possible for them to play,” Kim said. “However, I don’t think it is dragging their feet during the game when it comes to soccer development. For Malaysian soccer to develop, we need to change this,” Kim said. “The opponent team played well, and I thought it was good to see them all come down and play defense. It is true that we have strategies to win, but we need to improve if we want to play advanced soccer like Europe.”