Ulsan HD is suffering from an “abnormal low temperature.” As a K-League 1 champion, he entered the elite stage of the Asian Champions League (ACLE), which was launched in the 2024-2025 season, but is now the “last place” among the 12 teams in East Asia. He lost all two games to Japanese J-League teams, losing to none. Ulsan lost 0-1 to Kawasaki Frontale on June 18 at its home ground, and suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss at an away game against the Yokohama Marinos on June 2. While losing points, it is a disgrace to have no goals in two games.
“The waiting period is short. We will face the J-League again. Ulsan will leave its home ground Munsu Football Stadium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday to play Vissel Kobe at Ulsan Stadium in good condition on the ground. Ulsan coach Kim Pan-gon promised a reversal on Wednesday, a day before the match.
“We didn’t get off to a good start, and we didn’t get any points. This is our third game. Based on the analysis in our group, Kobe seems to be the strongest team. We are competing to win the K-League 1, and we also have the Korea Cup final. We didn’t do our best in ACLE, but we will do our best to give results to our fans as much as possible because we are home.”
In order to achieve a goal, a goal must be scored in the end. Ulsan is in the “resurrection of its national team’s Joo Min-gyu dilemma.” The revival of Joo Min-gyu is an urgent priority. The last time Joo Min-gyu scored a goal wearing the Ulsan uniform was against FC Seoul (1-0 win) on July 13. Three months have passed since the news of the goal disappeared. He has stopped at his eighth goal in the K League 1. He will not have a reputation as the top scorer of the K League 1 in 2021 and 2023 this season.
Joo reported a goal in the match against Oman (3-1) last month for the Korean national team, but remained silent this month. On the other hand, Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk), who is competing for the position, scored his second consecutive goal and Oh Se-hoon (Machida) made his debut goal in an A-match game. If the slump continues for a longer time, he may become far away from the Korean national flag, which he struggled to achieve.
The same holds true for Joo. “Honestly, I feel sorry and sorry. I feel sorry for the preparation during the training, image training and situations where things are not going as I please,” he said before the A-match break on Wednesday. However, he is not without a chance. He lost concentration at the last minute and has hardly found a way out.
As Joo Min-gyu was silent, his competitors were also on fire. After moving to Ulsan, Yago only had three goals and one assist in 11 K League 1 games. He has no goal in the ACLE. Only when Joo Min-gyu and Yago explode, Ulsan can gain momentum. Manager Kim, who emphasized “carrot” instead of “chick” in the K League 1 on Wednesday, also made a “word” after the scoreless draw with Kim Cheon-mu. “A striker demonstrates value in chances. He also needs to know how to create chances. He has some regrets. We will look forward to seeing him and Yago explode.”
Ulsan is targeting its third consecutive championship in the K League 1. It has maintained its lead with 62 points, but second-ranked Gangwon FC (58 points) has been chasing it. It has four more games to play. ACLE also desperately needs its first win. “I have high expectations for ACLE. However, I couldn’t make all-out efforts in the course of management,” Kim said. “I am focusing on passing the preliminaries. We do not overreact to the results of every game,” Kim said. “Just because Kobe is strong does not mean that we will strengthen our defense tactics. We will give joy to our home fans and dominate the game based on our strong offensive defense against the strong team.” 메이저사이트
It will be their first rematch with Kobe in four years. Ulsan met Kobe in the ALC semifinals on Dec. 13, 2020, and won 2-1 after extra time. To revive the memory, it desperately needs a goal from Joo Min-kyu.