Team K League’s new head coach Hong Myung-bo defeated Diego Simeone’s ‘mastermind’.
Team K League earned a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the ‘Coupang Play Series’ at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on July 27.
Team K-League played a tough game, conceding the first goal to Tomar Lema in the first half and conceding a series of shots on goal, especially with the presence of European stars such as Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata, and Rodrigo de Paul of Atletico. However, Team K-League had Lee Chang-geun. Lee started the game and wowed the fans with an incredible first-half save.
With the score at 0-1, Team K League started to pull away in the second half, thanks in large part to the foreign players who came on as substitutes. Four minutes into the second half, Anton headed home a free kick from Sejingya to equalize. From then on, it was a tight game with the hosts in control. They did concede a goal in the 40th minute through Carlos Martin, but Gerso was awarded a penalty shortly afterward. Palocevic stepped up to take the spot kick and converted with ease to level the scores once again.
The hero of the match was Lee Sun-min (Gwangju FC), who rattled Atletico’s net with a curling shot from outside the box in the third minute of second-half stoppage time. It was a moment that completed Team K League’s upset. Lee celebrated with his teammates by performing a ‘big man’ ceremony.
“I’m very happy to win in front of so many people,” said head coach Hong Myung-bo at the official post-match press conference.
On this day, Team K-League showed off a lineup that emphasized domestic players in the first half and foreign players in the second half. “We trained for about an hour, but it was hard to get the performance we wanted. The most important thing was communication. We could have arranged the players well, but we arbitrarily divided the playing time for better communication,” he explained. “In the second half, we knew they were going to play less experienced players. In the second half, we put our more experienced players on the bench, and I think it worked out well.” The ‘mercenary trick’ literally worked.
Meanwhile, Hong was unable to shake Simeone’s hand after the game. Simeone left the field at the end of the game. When asked about this by the press, Hong Myung-bo was adamant that he had no regrets.
“In the first half, there was definitely a level difference. Tactically, I thought they were a very complete team 먹튀검증.”
The final question was about Bae Joon-ho. Simeone said that he was “impressed” with Bae’s play. However, the two coaches had different opinions. Hong Myung-bo said, “He wasn’t that good today,” and gave a cold assessment, saying, “He looked a little shaky today.”
The following is a one-on-one interview with Team Korea’s head coach, Hong Myung-bo.
- How did the game go?
I’m very happy that our players got the win in front of a big crowd. There were a lot of K League fans here, and I’m glad that we were able to show them that we were able to score a goal to come back in the end. Of course, there was a difference in quality between us and our opponent in the first half, but I think it was a good motivation for the second half to finish with one goal thanks to Lee Chang-geun’s save. In the second half, we saw that we could turn it around with our experienced players coming on, and I think it worked out well. - You played mostly domestic players in the first half and foreign players in the second half. What was the intention behind that. What did you learn from the domestic and foreign players?
We trained for about an hour, but it was hard to translate it into a good performance. In the end, the most important thing was communication. Of course, we could have had a Korean and a foreign player in each position, but we randomly distributed the playing time for better communication. We thought it would be more efficient. In today’s game, many players did a good job, especially Lee Chang-geun, who saved several scoring situations, which was very good. It was good to see the foreign players giving their best for the team as a whole. - Was Seol Young-woo’s full-time in the second half intentional? He also played as a central defender in the second half.
Timo was withdrawn just before the game, which left us with an extra defender. Since Timo’s position is central defense, I tried to use Jung Tae-wook and other players in an unusual way, and I think Seol Young-woo covered well tactically. - Did you have a special message for the team at halftime?
First of all, I told them not to give up. In terms of other aspects of the game, we adapted little by little as we played. I told them to focus on set pieces. That was the case with the goal, but overall, we didn’t have enough time to prepare for set pieces, so I asked them to cover them better. I asked them to play more calmly because we can score enough goals in the second half. - I was also a power analyst, so there was some serious preparation. What did you talk about with the coaching staff?
Overall, I tried to go in knowing the opponent’s playstyle and image. More importantly, I talked to the players about doing what was reasonable and possible. As a coach, it’s difficult to say, “Let’s beat Atletico”. But what we can do, “let’s do our best,” is quite possible. I talked to the foreign players as well as the Korean players about that kind of attitude, and maybe that’s why we were able to win at the end. - What was it like to play Simeone’s style of soccer?
I could feel the difference in level between us. Especially in the first half, I felt that they were a very well organized team tactically.
- The crowd sang “Goodbye” after the comeback goal.
I thought we were in Ulsan. It was great to win, but I was even happier to hear that comment at the end. - Simeone expressed his dissatisfaction with the refereeing during the game.
It was a friendly, so why complain about the refereeing? - I don’t think Simeone shook hands with him after the game.
I don’t have any particular regrets. - How does it feel to win with the K League compared to the national team?
I’m happy that the players representing the K League won. When world-class teams come to Asia and prepare for preseason, we usually call it an all-star game, and I don’t like that. I couldn’t demand too much from the players, but I drew a line in the sand and asked for effort, and I think the result was a good performance.
-Simeone on Bae Junho
You were so bad today… I think he was under pressure. We all know his strengths from the last tournament, but it’s true that he looked a little shaky today.