Kim Pan-gon, who won his Ulsan HD coach's debut match, mentioned the players' finishing ability and said he was sorry that the "goodbye" call could not come out sooner.
Ulsan won 1-0 with a lucky own goal in the 26th round home game of "Hana Bank K League 1 2024" held at Munsu Football Stadium on Sunday. Ulsan, which had recently lost two consecutive league games and was lagging behind in the lead race, added three more points to rank third (13 wins, six draws and seven losses, 45 points).
Ulsan, which had been in disarray since Hong Myung-bo's departure recently, has been pushed out of the race for the lead by winning two consecutive games under the acting coach Lee Kyung-soo. Since then, the team has appointed Kim Pan-gon, who had remarkable performances in Malaysia, as its new head coach. Kim, who served in Ulsan while he was active, has become the first official coach of the team.
Coach Kim activated a 4-4-2 formation on the day. Cho Hyun-woo defended the goal, and Lee Myung-jae, Kim Young-kwon, Kim Ki-hee and Yoon Il-rok made up the back four. Rubik's Son, Jung Woo-young, Ko Seung-beom and Um Won-sang worked together in the midfield, and Kang Yoon-gu and Joo Min-kyu made the front two-top to score.
His performance did not overwhelm Daegu. However, he garnered three points with his lucky own goal. In the 31st minute of the first half, Ko Seung-bum's low and fast cross hit Daegu center back Ko Myung-seok's foot. Afterwards, he knocked on the goal but failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Daegu gave away several chances, but Cho's decisive defense allowed him to win.
In a press conference after the match, Kim said, "We took a different approach in the way our team won. I think the things we trained for a few days turned out well. When we reviewed the first half, everything we wanted to do came out," and added, "We didn't finish well. We should have gone 2-0 and 3-0 quickly. We need to focus more on finishing the game. If you dream of winning the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League and doing well in the Club World Cup, you need to be more decisive."
"We controlled the team well in the last 15 minutes. Congratulations to our players for their good performance as Daegu prepared a counterattack with Cesinha," he said. "I hope you taste it in this part. I hope you can win by completely controlling and controlling the team. Even if we play like this, we will not necessarily win." There is no guarantee that we will win, but it is important for us to increase our chances of winning." "(I think we did a good job," he said.
When asked how he felt about returning to Ulsan, head coach Kim said, "I wanted to receive such good support from Cheoyong warriors, and I always enjoyed the song 'Goodbye'. I should have made the song come out a little faster, but that's a bit of a shame," adding, "I think he likes it because he won after a long time because he lost the previous two games. Thank you for welcoming me. I think these cultures and the culture of the fans are quite good. I will do my best to continue to win and produce results so that the team and the fans can maintain a good relationship."
What significance did this game mean in Kim's soccer career? "It seems to be meaningful. I left 28 years ago with a heavy and regretful feeling, but I won a difficult game during this game, and I received a lot of support," Kim said. "I am very happy."
"I'm very grateful to our players. They did their best and did their best as requested. The offense did its best to defend itself. I should have given a good chance, but if I finish well, it will be even better. It's my first win since I came back, so I feel happy and meaningful and grateful," he added.
"There were so many great players, and it's an honor to be the first coach ever to be a player," coach Kim said. "It's not easy to come back as a coach. Thank you so much for inviting me and thank you so much for welcoming me."
When asked about Hong Myung-bo, who left Ulsan and took the helm of the national team, he said, "If we answer this, our victory will be covered. I hope we can win tomorrow in Ulsan. I think we will have a chance to talk about that next time."
Kim said he scored 70 points in this match, considering 100 points in soccer that he has been pursuing. "I was able to perform better and lacked determination at the last minute, more critical passes, and critical moments. How strong I am in that area, that is important," Kim said. "They are parts that pressure me, but I did well in training. They were compact and pressurized as much as I could. That's why I can't give up to only 70 points today. I narrowed the gap when it comes to defense for the rest of the players. Players followed me well, which was taken tactically. It must have been physically more difficult than usual. I think I finished this kind of game well through replacement cards or game management."
Cho Hyun-woo, who made great saves several times, said, "I don't like personal comments, but I've been doing it not only today's game but also several times at such an important moment. Thank you so much for blocking decisive things in every game," and added, "I think I've played a good role as a goalkeeper, a leader, and a veteran. The role of goalkeeper in leading soccer is important. Even when winning the World Cup in Russia, it was almost impossible to win the game without Cho Hyun-woo's good defense. I'll expect him to have a good influence under the new national team system."
Ulsan has outstanding youth pool including Hyundai Middle School and Hyundai High School. "We need to raise our players well overall, but if we don't have any form, we will give them a chance," he said. "We will definitely give them a chance. We will definitely give them a chance by competing. However, if there is a player who values that moment and considers it a waste of time and is more important in big games, he or she will give them a chance as much as possible. We will lead the team well so that the team can continue to work well," he said, reiterating his competition system. 파워볼사이트