The existence of goalkeeper Hwang In-jae (30) cannot be left out as the secret of the Pohang Steelers’ minimum run.
Hwang In-jae did not show a remarkable performance since his professional debut. In the 2016 season, the first year of his debut, he played only one game for Gwangju FC. After that, he came to Pohang via the K League 2 Ansan Greeners. And after being discharged from the military, his performance last season shone.
Hwang played in 38 games last season. He won the award in all games. He has made brilliant contributions to leading his team to second place in the league and win the Korea Football Association (FA) Cup by allowing 40 runs in 38 games.
The same applies to this season. Although Park Tae-ha took the helm, Hwang is the undisputed main goalkeeper. Furthermore, Pohang’s main defenders left one after another. Last season, its main defenders Ha Chang-rae (Nagoya Grampus) and Alex Grant (Tianjin Jinmenhu) all left the team.
There were many concerns about Pohang’s defense following their departure. Above all, Park Chan-yong, another defender, also joined the army on April 29 after playing six games. Pohang is currently operating its defense lineup as rookie Choi Gyu-baek, who was born in 2004 for Lee Dong-hee, Jeon Min-kwang, and Aspro.
It is a completely new combination this season. Lee Dong-hee and Aspro joined Pohang this season, and Jeon Min-kwang also returned after solving the military problem. Still there are concerns, but Pohang is ranked first in the lowest number of goals scored with eight goals in 11 games.
In the three games without Park, he also managed to score no runs twice. Pohang is the only team in the K League 1 that has not conceded 10 goals. Thanks to Hwang In-jae’s strong defense in the final room, Pohang has scored a series of “theater goals” and is writing a reversal drama. It is also called “Taeha Drama” after Park. 스포츠토토
Hwang In-jae played in all 11 league games his team played. He has maintained a zero-point run rate with eight runs in 11 games. There are already five clean sheets. He is also No. 1 in the clean sheet category. He is giving up 0.73 goals per game. It is a goalkeeper position that does not receive more attention than field players, but Hwang In-jae’s ball is certainly big.
In addition, Hwang In-jae has excellent foot skills. He is also involved in rear build-up. The success rate of passes is 82.9%. The success rate of medium-distance passes is 99.3%. This means that Hwang In-jae has a large proportion and influence in the team.