Center back Kang Min-woo, born in 2006, the first semi-professional contract player in Ulsan HD, made a successful debut against Daegu FC.
Ulsan secured the first goal by Boyanich in the 38th minute of the first half in the 19th round home game of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 against Daegu held at Munsu Football Stadium on the 26th, winning 1-0. Ulsan, which added three points, had 11 wins, five draws and three losses, and 38 points, pulling Gimcheon Sangmu (36 points) to second place and reclaiming the lead. It also had no loss (4 wins and two draws) in six games since its away match in Gangwon Province (0-1 loss) in May.
The home team Ulsan came out 4-4-2. Cho Hyun-woo defended the goal and Lee Myung-jae, Kim Ki-hee, Kang Min-woo and Choi Kang-min made up the back four. Kim Min-woo, Mateus, Boyanichi and Um Won-sang formed the midfield. Joo Min-kyu and Kang Yoon-gu played as the front-line two-top and sought to score.
Coach Hong Myung-bo made Kang Min-woo, who was born in 2006, start in a surprise move due to injury sustained by center backs. As the Ulsan team’s first semi-professional contract player, Hong is paying keen attention to Kang. Prior to the season, he also participated in an off-season training camp in Kagoshima, where he played with Hwang Seok-ho, and recently assessed that he is as speedy as Hong.
Yang Min-hyuk (Gangwon FC) and Kang Joo-hyuk (FC Seoul), who are still young but are already the same age as each other, are playing professionally as they are attending Youth Hyundai High School under Ulsan. Kang Min-woo also depicted a bright future by safely finishing his debut game with stable defense.
In particular, he displayed solid defense against Cesinha, who is considered one of the best mercenaries in the K-League, and blocked the team without allowing a single goal. As a young player, he made several mistakes, but overall, he displayed good teamwork with his partner Kim Ki-hee.
He might have been nervous, but he was rather bold. Kang did not look nervous at all when he met with reporters at the mixed zone after the game.
Kang Min-woo said, “I thought I would be very nervous, but I wasn’t nervous because the members kept instilling confidence in me when I was training from the previous day,” adding, “I was just a little nervous. I think I entered the stadium that much.”
“I wish I had done it more confidently, but it’s a little disappointing that it didn’t work out. If I get another opportunity next time, I want to be more confident,” he said. “Since they are all professional players, I have to adapt to the tempo, so I think I need to adapt quickly to those areas.” he also analyzed the future direction of development.
Kang Min-woo, who had rested for nearly four months after repeated injuries and rehabilitation after the off-season training, said, “It was my first time going to the off-season training with the guys, and I was more confident than I thought, so I came out a lot of things that I was good at. I think the coach liked that part, too,” and added, “What’s a shame is that I took about four months off due to an injury right after the off-season training. Still, I’m so grateful that the coach gave me another opportunity to come back like this.” 스포츠토토
Regarding the showdown with Cesinha, he said, “I kept recognizing that I am a key player in Daegu from the previous day. I kept doing it at the meeting, but I think I was able to block it easily because I blocked it with the older members.”
Regarding the performances of Yang Min-hyuk and Kang Joo-hyuk, he said, “I was motivated. I was really close to them when I was a 17-year-old representative, so it was really nice to see them do well. I also wanted to show good performances soon and run with them.”