Chun Sung-hoon, who scored the equalizer against Hai Phong FC, shares his thoughts on scoring Incheon United’s first Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) goal and the atmosphere in the locker room.
The 2023-2024 ACL playoffs kicked off at the Incheon Football Stadium on Nov. 22, with Incheon coming from behind to beat Hai Phong 3-1 in extra time. Incheon, who will be competing in the Asian stage for the first time in the club’s history, will play the group stage starting in September.
The match took an unexpected turn from the start. Hai Phong, the underdogs, rattled Incheon’s goal in the first five minutes. In what could have been a prolonged period of embarrassment, Incheon quickly redressed the balance. In the 17th minute, Chun Sung-hoon headed home a cross from Mugosa. It took Incheon a long time to turn the game around, but back-to-back goals from Hernandez and Gerso in stoppage time secured their place in the ACL.
After scoring the first ACL goal in Incheon’s history, Chun Sung-hoon said in the post-match mixer, “I’m really honored. I was hoping it wouldn’t be a difficult game, but we conceded an early goal, so it wasn’t easy. I had to score a goal to play well, so that was all I could think about,” he said.
“I played with Mugosa for the first time and our eyes met when he sent in a cross. He placed it just right where I was going in. I’m grateful to him,” he said, giving credit to Mugosa. 온라인카지노
Despite Chun’s goal, Incheon was unable to add to their lead and went into halftime with the score tied at 1-1. When asked about the mood in the locker room at halftime and after the eventual victory, Chun said, “At the end of the first half, the mood was ‘we can do it’ and ‘let’s try again’. No one said anything negative. The ‘coaches’ were also calmly preparing for the second half by having a video meeting, and I think that made a difference. At the end, we were celebrating because we won anyway, and since we have a game against Suwon FC right now, everyone was trying to improve their mood and condition quickly.”
Incheon will play the second half of the group stage on a home-and-away basis. When asked how he feels about going on an away trip, Chun Sung-hoon, who often experienced long flights while playing in Germany, said, “Of course I’m excited, but I’m also tired. The key will be how we prepare for the long flight.”