“It’s an excuse, but I really resented the injured players.”
Incheon United drew 1-1 with Jeonbuk Hyundai in the 36th round of the Hana One Q K League 1 at the Incheon Football Stadium at 2 p.m. on Nov. 12.
Incheon, who threatened Jeonbuk throughout the match, took the lead in the 16th minute through a goal by Kim Do-hyuk (31, Incheon), but were unable to hold on to the lead and had to settle for a draw after conceding a goal by Park Jae-yong. Needing three points to catch up with third-place Gwangju (58 points), Incheon could only manage one point, keeping them on 53 points and five points behind Gwangju.
When asked after the match, Kim Do-hyuk said, “We have a lot of injuries. Everyone around me said, ‘Your tooth fell out.’ I think my gums need to work. My brothers played well and I thought we could win at home. I think the fans were expecting that from us. It’s a shame. We will rest well and prepare well for the next match,” he concluded.
Kim went on to talk about the club’s first AFC Asian Champions League (ACL) experience. “I realized why teams that play in the ACL want to keep playing. “I know it will be hard for me, but I hope the young players in Incheon will set their sights on bigger goals and dream of the Champions League (UCL),” he said.
Incheon, who are playing in Group G of the ACL, defeated Yokohama 4-2 in the first leg before winning 4-0 against Kaya in the second leg. They lost 0-2 to Shandong Taishan in Game 3 and lost 1-3 in Game 4 against Shandong in a rematch. Incheon currently sits in third place in the group with six points (two wins and two losses). 토토사이트
Kim Do-hyuk said, “It’s an excuse, but I really resented the injuries. I thought they were a team we could beat (Shandong). In soccer, it’s hard to organize when one person is missing. People think, “We’ll just get someone in,” but when you lose a player, it takes time to get back together. If we had some older brothers in the team, I think we could have beaten Shandong,” he said.
Kim Do-hyuk continued, “If all the injured players were in the squad, it would have been really fun and the fans would have been happy watching the soccer, but they also feel happy watching Incheon overcome difficulties. We are happy too, and I think we can grow as a team. As there are injuries, we will work together and come back stronger,” he said.
