‘Hyundai Steel (Uhyeon) will win the championship anyway.’ The science of the WK League is always on display in the championship match, but Suwon FC Wimin has an indomitable wizard, Ji So-yeon (33), who has led her team to victory time and time again.
Before the first leg of the 2023 WK League Championship against Incheon Hyundai Steel at Suwon Sports Complex on April 19, Ji-so-yeon said, “It’s a mental battle. The team that is more eager will win.” When asked how eager she was, she said, “Enough to leave Chelsea.” “I came back to the WK League with an eager heart,” said Ji-So-yeon, who last year wore a Suwon jersey instead of Chelsea’s after eight seasons. When I said I came to the WK League to stop Incheon Hyundai Steel, people thought I was joking, but I was serious.” It was clear why he chose to return to Korea, despite Chelsea’s urging, and why he chose Suwon FC over Incheon Hyundai Steel, the ‘absolute number one’. She wanted a league where teams could develop together in a more competitive environment, rather than the ‘Uhyeon’ monopoly of the WK League, which has lost 10 consecutive titles. “Incheon Hyundai Steel is the team that invests the most, so the 10-game losing streak is natural. Other teams need to invest as well. I hope the standards of more women’s soccer clubs will rise together,” she said. “It’s going to be a close game. It’s going to come down to who has the finishing touch. Set pieces will also be important. Incheon has a good free kicker, and Suwon has me,” she said, expressing confidence. 아톰카지노
Her words became a prophecy of victory. Incheon Hyundai Steel’s offense was hot in the first half. In the 38th minute of the first half, after conceding a goal to Jang Chang of Incheon Hyundai Steel and trailing 0-1, Ji So-yeon’s dazzling right-footed shot from an indirect free kick went past the defense and into the corner of the net. The tide of the game changed. In the 35th minute of the second half, Ji So-yeon’s toes caught fire again and the game was suddenly 1-2, and Kim Yoon-ji’s wedge goal in the 45th minute gave Suwon a 3-1 upset victory over the defending champions, Incheon Hyundai Steel. Led by Ji So-yeon’s multi-goal performance, the Suwon FC Women’s team is well positioned to win the title for the first time in 13 years, since 2010, ahead of the championship second leg at home to Incheon on May 25.
In a post-match interview, Suwon FC Womin head coach Park Gil-young said of Ji So-yeon, “I’ve been playing women’s soccer for nine years, and she’s a player I can’t describe, a player I dare not evaluate. I can’t teach this player. She is a world-class, world-class player. Every time I see her on the pitch, I think she’s amazing as a person and as a soccer player, and all I can say to her is, ‘Don’t get hurt.
Ji So-yeon, the “wizard” who has presented trophies to every team she has played for, including Kobe Ainak and Chelsea Women, kept her cool in an interview after the upset win. Even with a two-goal lead, she made it clear that she wouldn’t let her guard down in the final two games against Incheon Hyundai Steel, a team that hasn’t lost a championship in the last 10 years. “I decided not to drink kimchi soup. I’m not even taking out the championship ‘woo’. This is a team that has been playing in the championship game for the past 11 years. We can’t let our guard down. We have to stay focused until the end of Game 2.” We asked Ji So-yeon, who has won numerous trophies over the past decade, what it means to win the Suwon FC Women’s title. “Our Suwon players kept challenging, and we drank hard. When the challenge pays off, I want everyone to feel that experience, and I think someone has to break the monopoly. I want everyone to know that winning feels like this. Once you do it, you’ll always want more. I really want to win my first title with my fellow Koreans.”
