“On my way to Final A, I gained the strength to endure.”
Daegu FC coach Choi Won-kwon expressed his ‘pride of being Daegu’ after achieving an ‘exhilarating’ theatrical victory in the away game against Suwon Samsung and rising to 4th place in the league with the first 3 consecutive wins of the season.
Daegu won 1-0 in the 2023 Hana One Q K-League 1 Round 30 away game against Suwon, held at Suwon World Cup Stadium on the 17th, thanks to Baselus’ goal in extra time in the second half.
With only 4 games left in the split round, including the Suwon match, it is a desperate battle where every game is a final for the mid-to-upper tier teams excluding the ‘second round’ Ulsan and Pohang. On this day, 3rd place Gwangju defeated 4th place Seoul 1-0 and advanced to 48 points, and the previous day, Incheon defeated Jeju (35 points) and rose to 6th place with 43 points, and Daegu (41 points) was pushed to 7th place. Seoul, Jeonbuk, and Incheon ranked 4th to 6th, forming a ’43-point group’. If Daegu catches last place Suwon, there is a chance to rise to 4th place. However, if they lost or drew, they would remain in 7th place, and it was a game that would become a watershed in the upper water war.
Suwon also desperately needed a home win. Gangwon, which was in last place the previous day, won 3-1 after an underwater battle in Jeonbuk, earning three points. With 24 points, Suwon was pushed to last place with 22 points. They put their lives on the line for 3 points at home.
There were many changes in the lineups of both teams on this day. ‘King of Daegu’ Sejingya was absent due to a rib injury. Edgar came out as the starter. Suwon’s Kim Bo-kyung returned to the field two months after the game against Pohang on July 12. The three-back combination of both teams also 바카라사이트changed. Daegu replaced Kim Kang-san in place of Cho Jin-woo, who had been absent due to warnings, and Suwon had Lee Gyu-seok, a youth born in 2001, ordered to block Vasellus. It was his league debut. In Daegu’s midfield, Jang Seong-won replaced Hwang Jae-won, who will play in the Hangzhou Asian Games, and Choi Young-eun wore goalkeeper gloves in place of Oh Seung-hoon, who had surgery to remove a lump.
In the first half, the game did not go well for both teams. Suwon was blocked by Daegu’s defensive wall and could not build up, and Daegu, without Sejingya, was also unable to use its long-time counterattack. The first half ended 0-0, and at the start of the second half, Suwon made their will to win clear by bringing in Lee Ki-je, Mulich, and Werick Popo at the same time. A painful scene occurred in Daegu in the 10th minute of the second half. Daegu Beltola received a red card for hitting Werick Popo with his elbow. However, Suwon was unable to maintain its numerical advantage. Decisiveness was the problem, with only 2 goals in the last 5 games. Rather, as the second half progressed, Daegu came back from the crisis with a united fighting spirit. And the extra time in the second half was Daegu’s time. After Baselus pierced the side of a tired Gyu-seok Lee, his desperately pushed shot finally hit the net.
Daegu wrote the drama. Without Sejingya, the ‘click soccer’ victory button was activated again in the worst situation of ‘away’ and ‘outnumbered’. They had their first 3 consecutive wins of the season. Big Bird waved with a “We’re Daegu” shout. Daegu, with 44 points, stands tall in 4th place in the league, following Ulsan, Pohang, and Seoul. Suwon remained in last place, 2 points behind Gangwon, with 22 points.
In an interview after the game, Daegu coach Choi Won-kwon said, “I am proud of our players who showed their fighting spirit until the end. We gained the strength to endure all the way to Final A.” “The next game is Pohang. Each game is a final that leads to Final A. As our players received strength to endure through this game, we gained confidence that we could play a good game against Pohang. It was a great harvest.” “That is the power of our Daegu,” he said of the power of playing better than Suwon in extra time despite being outnumbered 10 to 11. “We do a lot of counterattack training. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the first 5 minutes or the 90th minute. You have to trust your cell and play. We trust that cell,” he said emphatically. “The instructions from Barcellus were to show it through action. There was a lot of talk. The referee made excuses, so I said I don’t like excuses. I asked him to show it through action, and he scored through action. Thank you. It’s not that Suwon did poorly, but our players did well. “I trained really hard and even though I had some shortcomings, I worked harder and the results came out,” he said, expressing satisfaction.
Baselus, the protagonist of Theater Goal, expressed his gratitude to director Choi Won-kwon. “The coach told me that if I keep looking for opportunities until the end, I can score a goal. After scoring the goal, I shared my joy with my teammates and fans, and then ran to the coach. I wanted to express my gratitude for the faith and trust he gave me.” “I came to Korea for the first time and needed an adjustment period. The coach nagged me a lot, saying I wasn’t showing off my strengths. I was stressed at first, but I think it’s an area where I can improve. The reason I showed the concentration and mental strength like today is “Thanks to the director’s good nagging,” he added. “Today’s winning goal means a lot. We moved up to fourth place, and it gave us the team spirit and motivation to continue winning. I think it will be a great help to the individual and the team,” he said. 3 points, earnestness toward the top split goal, fighting spirit that never gives up, respect and gratitude for each other, and pride in Daegu. Daegu’s theater success originated here.