Gwangju FC head coach Lee Jung-hyo, who has been making waves in the K League One this season, is coy about the possibility of playing in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) next season.
Gwangju will host FC Seoul in the 30th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2023 on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Gwangju is in third place in the league (12W, 9D, 8L, 45 points), having recently picked up momentum by beating Ulsan Hyundai. After finishing first in the K League 2 last year, Gwangju has been making waves in the league with its well-organized attacking football.
“First of all, we practiced a lot on defense,” said Lee, who recently used the A-Match Break to improve his team’s organization for two weeks. “They have a lot of players who can score goals, so we focused on stopping them.”
However, Gwangju has faced Seoul twice in the league this season, losing both games. “At least we don’t have Park Dong-jin (Busan), who scored two goals against us,” Lee smiled.
Park Dong-jin was loaned to Busan I-Park in the summer transfer market.
Based on their recent form, Gwangju could easily finish in the top half of the table and qualify for the ACL next season.
However, Lee emphasized that “our team is not at that stage yet” and that “we will only focus on today’s game.”
Seoul’s acting head coach against Gwangju, Kim Jin-gyu, attended a Class P license coaching training in Barcelona, Spain, during the A-match break.
It was a tight schedule, as he left on the 8th and arrived on the 15th. “I’m still jetlagged,” Kim laughed, “but I didn’t have any anxiety because I trusted my staff. I watched the players train in real time.”
“It was tough, but it was a time to learn a lot,” said Kim, who had a grueling schedule, adding, “Espanyol was good defensively. It was impressive to see how well organized Barcelona is offensively, from the youth to the adult teams.” 바카라
Kim emphasized that the team would not back down against the attacking-minded Gwangju.
“Coach Lee Jung-hyo’s style is high-pressing, and we will do the same. We will give our fans pleasure and play exciting soccer,” he said, vowing to win.