After a painful exit and elimination, Lee continues to recover and grow again by playing in the league. I met him, who was about two months away from his mandatory military service.
Gimcheon Sangmu (Kimcheon), led by head coach Chung Jung-yong, drew 2-2 against Incheon United (Incheon) in the 11th round of Hana Bank K League 1 2024 at Gimcheon Stadium at 4:30 p.m. on the 5th. Gimcheon widened the gap early with Lee Young-joon scoring in the 5th minute and 11th minute of the second half, but Incheon showed concentration in the second half. Mugosa scored a penalty kick recovery goal in the 32nd minute of the second half, and Gerso scored an equalizer in the 40th minute of the second half.
Coach Chung deployed Lee Young-joon as a starting forward on the day. It was the first time that the coach appointed Lee as a starting pitcher since the 2024 Asian Cup at the AFC U-23 Championship.
As if living up to expectations, Lee Young-joon received Kim Dae-won’s pass in the 11th minute of the second half to create his team’s second score.
“It was good to see what we prepared against Incheon. I think it was an easy game to win, but our strikers didn’t take advantage of many chances, so it was a tie,” he said after the match.
Ahead of the game, Gimcheon manager Chung Jung-yong said of Lee Young-joon’s selection, “If you open it just once when you have a chance, you will gain confidence. I hope so,” adding, “I think it’s right to give them a chance today because they know what’s going on.”
“I scored a goal, but I failed to take advantage of the opportunity. I am sorry to my brothers for allowing me a penalty kick right after I failed to score. I have a lot of regrets. I had a lot of thoughts and made a complacent judgment,” he said.
He came out as a front-line striker on the day, but in addition to the station directly aiming for the goal, he also did enough to make a connection by coming down and sending a pass to the front.
“I joined the team late, so I didn’t play with my brothers. If I step up, I wanted to play hard and be of help. I did my best in the first half and moved like that, and it was good to get a goal in such a scene,” he said.
He had a lot of personal regrets recently. Even after scoring two goals in the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup group league held in April, he was sent off for a foul on his opponent’s foot after he was substituted for the match against Indonesia in the quarterfinals. Korea was eliminated after losing to Indonesia in the penalty shootout. 스포츠토토
“I talked a lot with my teammates after I returned. They comforted me a lot while expressing regret,” Lee said in a brief response.
He is now a sergeant-at-arms who is about two months away from discharge. “Time is ticking, but we still have a lot of games to play. I send it with the mindset that I should play well in the next game rather than being discharged from the military.”
“I don’t know about the other guys, but I’ve never played that big in the K-League, so I want to play in many games when I have a chance like this. If the coach gives me a chance, I want to play in more games,” he said.