Suwon will face Asan FC in Chungnam in the opening match of Hana Bank's 2024 K-League 2 home at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 2 p.m. on the 3rd. 안전놀이터
Suwon suffered irreversible pain last season. It faced the reality of being demoted to the K League 2 for the first time since its foundation in 1995 as it failed to escape from the bottom of the K League 1 even after replacing two coaches. Yeom Ki-hoon, the "Man of Suwon," was a firefighter at the moment of crisis, taking over as the acting coach, but it did not come true in the end.
Now Suwon dreams of conquering the second division with Yeom Ki-hoon, its official coach. With little experience as a coach, he received a lot of criticism from his fans, but he vowed to confront the rookie coach with his confidence and spirit.
Coach Yeom Ki-hoon, whom we met before the game, said, "Of course we have to win. As I mentioned, the goal is promotion. The first game is the home opening game. Many people are worried, but I played well in winter training with the players. I also have confidence. The first start is the most important. I will prepare well until the end to bring about the results and contents of today's game," he said.
As he is a likely candidate for promotion, he must have felt a lot of pressure. "Not only are we called candidates for the championship, but there are also all kinds of pressure," Yeom Ki-hoon said. However, I also think that we are the top candidates for promotion. We are well aware that K-League 2 is not an easy league. However, we have a clear goal and are confident that we will overcome everything if we do what we have prepared. I told the players to fully display what we have prepared today. I think today's game will be more important than ever."
Yeom Ki-hoon, who is set to make his official debut as a coach, was full of confidence. "The last practice match and yesterday's last training session went as well as I thought. I'm 70 to 80 percent ready. I think it went quite well. Honestly, I have more expectations than worries. I hope the results come out today."
The same applies to players. When asked if he would be satisfied with the result, Yeom Ki-hoon said, "I once asked Jin-woo (Jeon) who was in good condition. How many goals did I get?" He said, "I would be satisfied with the number of goals I scored." He said it was 5-0. Of course, it's not that high, but the players are confident that much. Goal is important, but it is important to bring both the content and the result. Victory is natural as it is the first time for fans at home."
He also heralded aggressive soccer. Yeom Ki-hoon said, "The soccer you hit first is valid today as well. I told the players that I will go this way even if it doesn't work. I will push ahead with what I trained." I also thought that the only answer to promotion would be offensive soccer. We have to bully the opponent first, but the tempo we want comes," he stressed.
When asked if he was thinking about winning the championship without losing, he replied, "To be honest, I don't think I'm losing at the moment. Of course, there are unexpected variables when I play the league, but now I really want to be promoted without losing."
Mulic, who suffered ups and downs last season, will start. Yeom Ki-hoon said, "Not only Mulic, but several others are in good physical condition. Mulic showed good performance in practice matches and scored a goal every time. I have high expectations. We need a goal anyway. I think Mulic, a clear striker, will solve it again today."
Cho Yoon-sung, who moved from Asan in South Chungcheong Province, will also play the starting pitcher and face his former team. Yeom Ki-hoon said, "I deliberately didn't ask Yoon-sung more. I thought I could be nervous if I asked too many questions because I was a good team. I didn't ask him at all, but he paid less attention on purpose. I just asked him about his condition."
Compared to the last season, the roster has changed significantly. "I think we have changed positively," Yeom Ki-hoon said. "Park Sang-hyuk, Kim Sang-joon and Jin-woo have entered their fifth and seventh years as well. If you look at the roster, you will find many players who are old and experienced who can play the main roles in the team. Compared to the last game last year, everything has changed except for Ho-gang and Yang. I think that will be a synergy effect as well as motivation."
According to a Suwon official, 13,000 tickets have been booked. "Thank you so much. I know better than anyone else what the fans think of me. I feel sorry and thankful. I fully know that the fans are very worried about this team," Yeom said. "We all worked together to change our worries into expectations. We prepared more thoroughly, thinking that everything was on the line today. The players are full of confidence as well. We need to prepare well so that we can dispel even a little bit of worries from fans," he said, expressing gratitude to fans for their enthusiastic support.