The Hana OneQ K League 2023 Round 14 match between Suwon Samsung and Ulsan Hyundai held at Suwon World Cup Stadium on March 21. The left side of Suwon’s defense and the right side of Ulsan’s defense was a “battleground,” especially with the presence of Lee Ki-je (32-Suwon) and Seol Young-woo (25-Ulsan), who were named to the national soccer team in March.
Seol Young-woo, who started at right back, sent in a sharp cross in the sixth minute to set up Rubikson’s opening goal. Seol’s second assist of the season. He then directly threatened Suwon’s goal with a left-footed mid-range shot that hit the right corner of the net to equalize.
Lee Ki-jae also fought back, assisting Ahn Byung-joon’s equalizer from an indirect free kick just three minutes after conceding. It was a free kick that completely penetrated Ulsan’s defense. In the second half, he rattled the Ulsan net with a direct free kick. It was a sharp free kick that didn’t even reach the fingertips of national goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo.
In the end, it was Seol Young-woo who had the last laugh. In the 40th minute of the second half, Seol Young-woo, who joined the attack, did not miss the opposing defense’s unstable ball handling and dribbled boldly to win a penalty kick (PK). Ulsan’s Martin Adam converted the PK to win the match 3-2.
On this day, the two players led the team’s offense with offensive points side by side. With such a good performance for their team, the press naturally asked about the upcoming June A match. However, both players agreed that “playing for the team is a priority”.
“When I first started playing on the left side, I was told I had ‘limited tools’ because I’m right-footed,” said Seol Young-woo in the post-match mixer. Recently, I’ve been getting more opportunities to play on the right side, so I wanted to increase my attacking points,” he said confidently.
Hong Myung-bo has high hopes for Seol Young-woo. Hong has said in the past that he expects Seol to be Ulsan’s player of the decade in any position. Although he has yet to play an A match, he was called up by coach Jürgen Klinsmann in March. “I’m always grateful for what (coach Hong Myung-bo) says, but you never know what’s going to happen in soccer. Above all, I need to maintain my 메이저놀이터 performance and do well for the team first.”
Lee Ki-je also emphasized his performance for the team. When asked about his thoughts on the June A match in an interview on Mixzone, he said, “Right now, I think Suwon needs to do better. We’re still in last place, but I believe we can get into the mid-table with three or four wins. I hope our team will be the first to come back to life,” he reiterated.