I wonder how you would be satisfied with it.”
Hwang Seon-hong, who confirmed his advancement to the finals, was not able to laugh as much as Baek Seung-ho (26, Jeonbuk Hyundai). He feels the weight of the captain’s armband and is leading his juniors, but he is facing repeated mistakes and painful criticism as a result.
Baek Seung-ho started and played full time in the men’s soccer semifinals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Huanglong Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on the 4th (Korean time), contributing to the team’s 2-1 victory.
However, the goal-loss scene was once again on the chopping block. He allowed a foul in a dangerous area, and the opponent’s free kick hit his head and deflected into the net. An additional goal was scored quickly to secure victory, but it was a dizzying scene.
This is not Baek Seung-ho’s first mistake. Baek Seung-ho was not satisfied even though he scored a penalty kick goal in the round of 16 against Kyrgyzstan on the 27th. In the 28th minute of the first half with a 2-0 lead, Baek Seung-ho, who was trying to start the build-up by coming down to the last line, made a mistake touching the ball near the halfway line and absurdly lost the ball, giving Maksat Aligulov an excuse to concede a goal.
Afterwards, he repeated to himself that it was okay, as if trying to forget his mistake, but the dizzying mistake was repeated in the quarterfinals against China. Likewise, a pass miss came from the rear. It was fortunate that China’s counterattack hit the goalpost. It was impossible to guarantee how the game would have played out if China had scored a consolation goal on the backs of the one-sided home fans.
One mistake and the common goal of winning a gold medal could be in vain. As a result, critical articles began to appear one by one. To make matters worse, a fatal mistake occurred once again that day.
In the 25th minute of the first half, when the team was leading 1-0, a foul was committed near the arc of the defensive zone. Uzbekistan had a sophisticated dead ball specialist, Djalolidinov. Moreover, because it was a situation that had perfect flow, it was a game that was unlikely to be easily lost as long as the set pieces were taken care of. However, it was painful to see that even though there was only one player to mark, he stretched his feet so easily and committed a foul.
In the later scenes, even luck did not follow. Baek Seung-ho, who was holding on to one of the opposing players by the wall, put his head on the ball flying towards him, but unfortunately the ball was exquisitely deflected and went out of goalkeeper Lee Gwang-yeon’s coverage area, resulting in the equalizer.
Baek Seung-ho, whom we met after the game, bowed his head and said, “They say I’m working hard, but a situation like this has come up. I try my best, but situations like this keep coming up, so I have nothing to say today.”
However, he did not hide his resentment. He said, “I said I was trying hard, but I committed a foul, and the shot was flying, and I couldn’t avoid it, so I blocked it and went in.” He added, “There were a lot of reporters saying, ‘If Baek Seung-ho plays well, we can make it to the finals,’ as if many reporters were playing alone before the game.” “I’m curious about what kind of thoughts you have in posting it, and I’m also curious about what you can do to be satisfied. What I want to say is that I hope you will trust and support me,” he said.
Coach Hwang Seon-hong supported captain Baek Seung-ho. He said, “It was dangerous to give away a free kick in a dangerous area because the opponent had a free kick specialist,” but added, “You can’t play soccer without conceding goals. I don’t really like conceding goals, but it was something that could not be helped.”레모나토토
Except for the scene where he conceded a goal, he performed well. Even in the comeback goal scene, sending a header well into the opponent’s goal led to a mixed situation and led to Jung Woo-young’s comeback goal, which caught the opponent’s defense off guard. Afterwards, the players calmly faced the tough Uzbeks, and in the second half, they raised the line a lot and even made a sharp pass into the space behind the Uzbeks who were counterattacking.
It is inevitable that we will have to endure criticism due to successive mistakes. Moreover, since he was selected as a wild card and is playing the role of captain, there are areas where even more criticism is directed at him.
He is in a situation where he cannot avoid the arrows of criticism directed at him even if he does not want to see it. Nevertheless, Baek Seung-ho is holding firm. This is because the final stage with the most important gold medal remains.
He said, “It’s not stress, but people around me keep talking about it, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see it, and it’s not that I don’t care because this keeps popping up.” He added, “But mentally, I’m fine, but I’m curious if you’ll be satisfied with how I did. I also tried my best to play the game. “I’m playing, but situations like that keep coming up. I’m disappointed, and I feel sorry for the players.”
It’s not that I don’t understand Baek Seung-ho’s position. No matter how many mistakes he makes, coach Hwang Seon-hong starts with Baek Seung-ho as a regular in the starting lineup. He said there are no suitable alternative resources. That’s why he was selected as a wild card. As the journey to the gold medal is going well, I hope that people will view it with a somewhat lenient eye.
In the end, there is no choice but to put them to sleep with their skills on the pitch. Fortunately, there is still a chance. Korea will play the final against Japan at 9 p.m. on the 7th. As I have good memories of winning after a fierce overtime battle five years ago, my goal is to win the gold medal once again with a thrilling victory in the Korea-Japan match. If Baek Seung-ho takes the center stage and leads the team to victory, the criticism directed at him will subside in an instant.