Incheon United continues to challenge for a top-four finish for the second consecutive season with foreign striker Stefan Mugosa, 31. Mugosa, who made a surprise return to his hometown club Incheon last month, has found the back of the net in just two games.
Incheon has been on a roll this summer. They have won five, drawn one, and lost one of their last seven games since July and are looking to make a big jump up the standings. As of Aug. 15, they are seventh in the K League 1 standings (36 points), but not far behind third-place Jeonbuk Hyundai (41 points) or fourth-place FC Seoul (38 points).
In the mid-table race, Incheon has gained a huge boost with the return of “pagum (blue + black) finisher” Mugosa. Mugosa, who left for Vissel Kobe in Japan’s J1 League last July, returned to his hometown team after a year away. “It’s an honor to wear my favorite jersey again,” said Mugosa. I want to play only for Incheon until I retire,” he said, vowing to “prove that Incheon is still strong.”
As promised, Mugosa scored a comeback goal after just two games in the K League 1. In the 26th round of the league against Daegu FC at Anbang on March 13, Mugosa scored a goal and an assist to lead the team to a 3-1 victory. He also shared two goals with fellow foreigner Jerso, showing a fantastic partnership. 꽁머니지급
Mugosa, who made his debut for Incheon in 2018, had a long and successful career in the league over five seasons until last year. In total, he has 69 goals and 11 assists in 131 games. He has also been a go-to guy for goals in crucial situations. Last year, he scored 14 goals in just 18 games before leaving for Japan.
At one point, Incheon’s nickname was “The King of Residency. The nickname came about because the club hasn’t been relegated from the K League 1 since the promotion system was introduced in 2013. In other words, they were stuck in the relegation zone for years. However, Incheon finished fourth in the league last year. Now it’s time to erase the painful nickname from memory once and for all.
Head coach Cho Sung-hwan has set the team’s goal for this season as “Big 4”. The team hopes to finish in the top four for the second year in a row and become one of the leading teams in the K League 1.