“Incheon is a survivor. We still have four games left. I believe in the players.”
Incheon lost 1-2 away to Jeju United in the 34th round of the 2024 Hana Bank K League 1 at the Incheon Football Stadium on Nov. 19.
The loss, their third in a row, leaves Incheon in 12th place with 32 points (7W, 11D, 16L). They are five points behind 11th-place Jeonbuk Hyundai with four matches remaining in the final round. Incheon will now face Gwangju FC, Jeonbuk, Daejeon Hana Citizen, and Daegu FC in turn. 파워볼사이트 After controlling the game in the first half, Incheon conceded a goal early in the second half due to a defensive error. Gerso scored a valuable equalizer midway through the second half to bring them back into the game, but they were undone by Italo’s winner in stoppage time.
When the final whistle blew, Incheon’s players couldn’t raise their heads. Despite having a 58-42 advantage in possession and a 17-6 advantage in shots on goal, they were unable to put the game away. The players walked with heavy steps to the Incheon supporters’ section. Having lost a game they should have won, and with relegation looking more likely than ever, boos were expected, but the Incheon supporters in blue and black reacted differently. Instead of boos, they gave the team a warm welcome.
Fans unfurled signs that read “Don’t be afraid, believe in yourself” and sang “Incheon is my pride, my last soul” at the top of their lungs to cheer up the dejected players. The players could only listen to the fans with heavy expressions.
Waiting for the players after the game, Jang Min-seo (18), a high school fan from Incheon, said, “There are still four games left. I believe the players will do well. We shouldn’t give up yet, it’s not over,” he said, adding, ”I will continue to believe in the players and support them.”
Incheon is known as the traditional survivor of the K League. They have never dropped to the second division since the K League 1 promotion system was introduced. Jang Min-seo also said, “Incheon has the title of survival king. I believe in the players,” he said.
When asked, “Why do you think we didn’t perform well this year?” he replied, “I don’t think we made any good signings. The previous coach, Cho Sung-hwan, left the team at a bad time, and the atmosphere was chaotic.”
More than the players, it was Choi Young-geun who bowed his head. He apologized to the fans at the post-match press conference. “Even when we were leaving the clubhouse before the game, the fans were cheering hard. It’s a tremendous motivation for the players,” Choi said, adding, ”I think we should always try harder with a fresh mind because of the fans. They have a lot of pride, and we don’t want to make it hard for them,” he said.
The bloodshed in the middle of the first half was also a factor when Kim Gun-hee was substituted. Song Joo-hoon took a shot on goal and Kim went down with a foot to the face. With his face covered in blood, Kim played with a bandage wrapped around his forehead. However, the bleeding continued and the injury was too severe for him to continue playing, so in the 29th minute of the first half, he went down on the ground again and Incheon substituted Oh Ban-seok without Kim.
“Kim Gun-hee was injured unexpectedly, and I think we missed the substitution,” said Choi Young-geun. ”We were in a situation where we had to replace not one, but three players. We were worried and replaced all three players, but we conceded the goal in a back-and-forth situation,” he said.
Finally, Choi Young-geun said, “Injuries keep coming, injured players can’t recover, and the player base keeps getting thinner. “We have to think about the squad,” he said, adding, ”The players are doing their best in every game, but we shouldn’t make defensive mistakes, but we are missing in crucial situations. We will recover quickly and get the points in the next game.”