After a long stint with Jeonbuk Hyundai, Seoul Eland head coach Park Chung-gyun is looking forward to meeting a big club.
Seoul Eland will host Gwangju FC in the round of 16 of the 2023 Hana OneQ FA Cup at Mokdong Sports Complex at 7 p.m. on April 24.
It’s a meeting between the K League 2 side and Gwangju FC, who were promoted to the K League 1 after winning the title last season. Lee Land defeated Suwon FC 2-1 in the round of 32, while Gwangju defeated Busan I-Park (2) by the same score.
After defeating Suwon FC, Park 메이저사이트 Chung-gyun will be facing a K League 1 team again. Speaking to the media before the game, he said, “Suwon FC also came out with a 1.5 team. The players have worked hard and prepared well to come this far,” he said.
“As we say every time, the players who were supposed to come back didn’t come back and the injuries kept piling up, so today we had two players who were supposed to play but couldn’t because of injuries. We have guys starting for the first time today. We have a young defense, all under 25. So we’re trying to take it easy. It’s a completely different competition from the league. Instead, we’re playing at home, so let’s not regret it when it’s over.”
With a win, Park could face his old club Jeonbuk in the quarterfinals. He was with Jeonbuk from 2013 to 2018 as head coach under Choi Kang-hee.
“I haven’t given up, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy without two of my best members,” Park said, adding, “I think it’s a good opportunity for the players to gain a lot of confidence because they’re facing a big team like Jeonbuk. So I don’t know about today’s game. They are young players, so they might make a big mistake.”
Lee Land also prepared for a possible penalty shootout. “We practiced penalty shootouts. I was thinking a lot about whether I should start Honan or use him in the second half. The game could go into overtime. We have to play all the extra time and we only have three substitute cards, so I was thinking about that as well.”
“Today, we have some players who are not fully fit, like Bantoan and Honan. I think we’ll have to rotate them well. Today’s FA Cup is important, but the next game against Ansan is much more important, so we are preparing to continue our good run.”
