In the end, history was repeated. The Pohang Steelers scored a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Jeonbuk Hyundai, breaking the pain of 10 years of no victory.
At 2:15 p.m. on the 4th, in the single-round final match between Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Hyundai, which met at the final stage of the 2023 Hana One Q FA Cup at Pohang Steel Yard, Pohang showed a crazy attack that scored as many as three goals in the second half, completing a perfect 4-2 reversal. Pohang was slow to allow Jeonbuk Song Min-gyu to lose the first point in the 15th minute of the first half, but Han Chan-hee completed the tie in the 43rd minute of the first half to balance the game.
Pohang, which allowed a penalty kick at the start of the second half when Shin Kwang-hoon fouled Jeonbuk Jung Woo-jae in the penalty box, was dragged away by Gustavo in the fifth minute of the second half, but eventually showed its potential by creating a tie and reversal. In the 28th minute of the second half, Zeka took advantage of Jeonbuk's defense's mistake to tie the score with a perfect right-footed volley, and four minutes later, Kim Jong-woo made a turnaround by cutting Jeonbuk's goal with his left foot after a perfect ball touch.
Pohang, which gained momentum after the reversal, even scored a wedge goal with a right-footed shot that completely neutralized Jeonbuk's defense just before the end of the second half, and Pohang, which exploded three goals in the second half alone, laughed as it won the trophy for the first time in 10 years since the 2013 season double (League + FA Cup). Pohang's power in the final was great. Pohang was in the corner with the first and additional runs, but the tactical point that hit Jeonbuk with Pohang coach Kim Ki-dong's right place was the beauty of the game, and the players who started and replaced showed great performance as if they were planning, leading Pohang to the championship.
Starting with Han Chan-hee, who scored the first goal, Kim Seung-dae, Kim Jong-woo, Jeka and Hong Yoon-sang, who scored offensive points, showed brilliant performances, while Park Seung-wook, Ha Chang-rae and Grant also showed fantastic defensive skills in defense. In addition, Hwang In-jae, the hidden contributor to Pohang's FA Cup victory, also showed off his outstanding skills.
In last year's K-League promotion playoffs, a doomed match was held between Daejeon Hana Citizen, who ranked second in the K-League 2, and Gimcheon Sangmu, who ranked 11th in the K-League 1. In the first game in Daejeon, Daejeon succeeded in overcoming Gimcheon 1-2 with consecutive goals by Cho Yoo-min and Ju Se-jong, and in the second game in Gimcheon, he scored as many as four goals to beat Gimcheon and succeed in promotion to League 1.
Hwang In-jae, who kept the goal as the main gatekeeper in Gimcheon's painful relegation process, allowed as many as six goals in the playoff game and made a fatal mistake in the first and second games to watch the team's relegation. Hwang In-jae, who became a member of the relegation team, returned to his main team, the Pohang Steelers, saying goodbye to Gimcheon at the same time as the team was demoted, but the tag that followed him could not be perceived as a goalkeeper who demoted the team.
There were not many views on the position of Hwang In-jae, who returned to Pohang. Kang Hyun-moo, who played as the main gatekeeper, left as Gimcheon Sangmu at the end of last season, but not only did Yoon Pyeong-guk, who had been firmly defending the goal with Kang Hyun-moo for the past two seasons, but he has never been a main player since his professional debut at Gwangju FC in the 2016 season. However, after the start of the season, the goalkeeper who protects Pohang's goal became Hwang In-jae. He was a goalkeeper with only 18 league games in his professional career and showed the worst mistakes in the relegation playoffs last season, but he led the team's rise by showing a change of mind after the start of the 2023 season.
Hwang In-jae, who defended Pohang's goal from the opening round, began to take charge of Pohang's last resort with his excellent reflexes and positioning. Hwang In-jae, who was reborn as Pohang's main goalkeeper with a stable defense in the league, began to show amazing performance in the FA Cup. Hwang In-jae, who led his team to a 0-3 victory over Seongnam FC in the round of 16 in the FA Cup, allowed Gangwon Yu In-soo to score first in the quarterfinals against Gangwon FC, but kept the goal without additional points due to his high concentration. Since then, Pohang has achieved its first advance to the FA Cup semifinals in three years thanks to consecutive goals by Zeka and Park Chan-yong in the second half.
The opponent I met after advancing to the semifinals was Jeju United, which is trying to win its first championship. Pohang, which allowed Seo Jin-soo to lose the first point in the 42nd minute of the first half against Jeju, balanced the game with Kim In-sung's fantastic volley shot in the 14th minute of the second half. The main character in the match was Pohang Hwang In-jae, who moved on to the penalty shoot-out. Pohang Jeka missed the first kicker and Jeju Lim Chae-min missed the second kicker, blocking Jeju's fourth kicker Kim Oh-kyu's shot and bringing the flow to Pohang. Since then, Pohang, where Han Chan-hee and Lee Ho-jae have succeeded in the penalty shoot-out in succession, has achieved a great result of advancing to the finals for the first time in 10 years amid Hwang In-jae's crazy defense.
The final opponent in 10 years was Jeonbuk Hyundai, which faced each other in the 2013 season and the final stage. Jeonbuk, which recently settled on an upward trajectory with three wins, one draw and one loss in the official match, was considered to have settled back in attacking football with three goals against Incheon in the previous semifinal. In fact, Pohang gave up the flow in the final against Jeonbuk, being swayed by Jeonbuk's pressure and attack throughout the first half. In fact, Pohang, which allowed Jeonbuk Song Min-gyu to lose the first point in the 15th minute of the first half, also gave up a lot of chances to lose additional points, but Hwang In-jae was relieved to make a super save.
In the 10th minute of the first half, Hwang In-jae, who overcame the risk of losing a point with a crazy reflex in a one-on-one situation with Han Kyo-won in Jeonbuk, blocked Baek Seung-ho's powerful free-kick shot in the 12th minute of the first half and also blocked Han Kyo-won's sharp shot in the 26th minute. Hwang In-jae, who blocked Jeonbuk's early attack with his whole body, defended the goal without additional points. At the start of the second half, Hwang In-jae, who allowed Gustavo to lose a penalty kick and defended the goal stably starting with blocking Baek Seung-ho's shot in the 8th minute of the second half, completely blocked Jeonbuk's attack and helped Pohang win the FA Cup for the first time in 10 years.
For Hwang In-jae, who contributed to Pohang's reversal by overcoming numerous losses until the first half and early second half when Jeonbuk's attack was fierce in Pohang's miraculous reversal, the FA Cup victory was a moment when he proudly stood as the main gatekeeper of the FA Cup winner a year ago, free of the stigma of being the main gatekeeper of the relegation team. Hwang In-jae, who started all games in the league and is playing as the team's No. 3 player (37 runs), is considered to be in charge of Pohang's goal in the future.
Hwang In-jae, who was praised for his amazing performance in the 2023 league game and the FA Cup, making question marks an exclamation point, is now heading to the league's best 11 awards along with Pohang's stable second-place Mercury.