Pohang’s Kim Ki-dong vows to win ACL 2nd leg against Wuhan…”We’ll get a home game at the Steel Yard”

“We’ll be careful on the counterattack”.

Pohang Steelers will take on Wuhan Sanjin (China) in the second leg of their 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Group J match on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Pohang Steel Yarde.

Pohang is coming off a 4-2 away win over Hanoi FC in their last match on March 20. Pohang is ranked second in the K League, so they have high hopes for the ACL.

Pohang head coach Kim Ki-dong said, “We got off to a good start against Hanoi in the first leg. It’s our first game at home. I think we have a good chance of winning if we play as prepared. We are currently showing good form in the K League. We will try to continue to show that in the ACL.”온라인바카라

His teammate Zeca added, “It’s going to be a tough game. But since we’re playing at home, we’ll give it our all to get the three points.”

Speaking about their opponents, Kim Gik-dong said, “Wuhan have Mal-kung and Park Ji-soo, who played in the K League. However, both players are injured and will not be able to play against us,” he said.

“Their defense is good at offside traps and they have a good counterattack. To win, we will have to dig deep into the tight spaces of Wuhan’s defense. I personally traveled to Wuhan in 2015. It was before the Olympics and I have great memories. I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow with those good memories.”

“Like any other match, I’m preparing to win,” said Zeca. Of course, I want to score, but I’m not interested in personal records. The most important thing is that the team wins through my play.”

The change in schedule from the ACL to the Autumn Festival is a big one. “I actually think this year’s schedule is much better than previous years. It’s better to play at home in front of our fans than to train away for a month. I’m not the only one with an ACL. And the players who have not experienced ACL are all good players. Even Kim In-sung has won the ACL before,” he said.

Coach Kim Ki-dong said, “From a manager’s perspective, I saw that the players were quite tired after the trip to Vietnam. In 2021, when we played the group stage with the bubble, it was definitely easier to manage physically. With the change to the Chinese New Year, the worrying part is that if we make it past the group stage, we will have to rebuild the squad after December.”

On Wandelsson’s injury, Kim Ki-dong said, “It’s not just the ACL, we’re competing in the league and we’re in the FA Cup semifinals. We lost an important player at an important time. However, despite the loss of many players this season, other players have stepped up to the plate, and we are confident that another player will step up to the plate.”

“We haven’t made it to the ACL since 2016,” said Kim Ki-dong. Both the club and the fans had a great desire to enter the ACL, and we were the runner-up in 2021. It’s been a long time since we’ve played an ACL game at home. We are confident that we will do our best to achieve good results not only in this game but also in the future.”

“We’re playing our first ACL game at home in a long time, and I hope that many fans will come and support us like they did in the last East Coast Derby. We will give a gift of victory for the team and for the fans.”