It's not easy to be a coach... The first K-League head coach debut game
It's not easy to be a coach... The first K-League head coach debut game
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He was curious to challenge himself, but again, the K-League stage was not easy.
The K-League 1 of the 2025 season opened on the 15th. With the second round underway, the K-League is drawing attention with a number of interesting teams, including FC Seoul, FC Anyang, Jeonbuk Hyundai, Gwangju FC, and Ulsan HD. In addition, a total of 177,641 cloud spectators have visited the stadium so far, despite the fact that it is not easy to experience due to the cold weather.
Thanks to this heat, K League 2 also announced its opening on the 22nd. Starting this season, Hwaseong FC, a "new team," has participated, and a total of 13 teams are entering the race for promotion, and foreign quotas have been changed, adding to the interest.
Jeong Kyeong-ho, Lee Eul-yong, and Cha Du-ri challenged 'first professional director'
With a total of 25 teams in the first and second divisions setting different goals and entering the opening game, here are the coaches who made their first professional coach debut for the first time. They are Gangwon FC Chung Kyung-ho, Gyeongnam FC Lee Eul-yong and Hwaseong FC coach Cha Du-ri, who were former star players.
Chung was the first to make his debut as the head coach, and had to play a bitter first game. Chung, who played his first match against Daegu FC under veteran coach Park Chang-hyun, had his first goal in the 43rd minute of the first half thanks to Gabriel's help from Lee Ji-ho, but that was it. After the start of the second half, Chung gave up the lead with 34 percent of possession and failed to hit a single shot on target while allowing 11 shots.
In the end, coach Chung failed to respond to this reliably, and in the 11th minute of the second half, he had to finish his disappointing debut by allowing a come-from-behind run to Cesinha just before the end of the game in Ramas. After that, coach Chung, who played the home opener against the Pohang Steelers at home on the 23rd, succeeded in winning his first victory in two games after his official coach's debut.
Lee Ho-jae lost a header at the 43rd minute in the first half. However, "Shinsung" Lee Ji-ho scored multiple points with 10 minutes left in the second half to turn the game around, and Chung grabbed a come-from-behind victory. "It was a thrilling first win for the coach. Our performance also led to a better performance than the match against Daegu," Chung said in an official interview after the match. "We are encouraged to play more confident games in the future as we have achieved this result."
Although Chung's victory in K League 1 rang out, all the coaches who tried to become professional coaches for the first time in K League 2 experienced defeat.
Lee Eul-yong of South Gyeongsang Province, who made his debut in the K League 2 first, was defeated 2-0 by Yoon Jeong-hwan of Incheon United, who was a teammate of the 2002 World Cup. Before the start of the match, Lee said through K League 2 Media Day, "I am Incheon for the first time. It is nice to meet you, but I will not back down easily. I will sprinkle red pepper powder properly," displaying confidence, but failed to clearly block the strikers, which led to Incheon's Mugosa, Barrow, and Germany.
Cha Du-ri, who created the semi-finals in 2002 along with Lee Eul-yong and Yoon Jung-hwan, also suffered a bitter defeat in his debut match. Hwaseong, which is challenging the K-League by opting to become a professional in the K3 League ahead of the 2025 season, has appointed Cha, who served as an analysis coach for the national team and coach at Osan High School (FC Seoul Under-18). The first opponent to face Cha's Hwaseong in the K-League was Seongnam FC under Jeon Kyung-joon. 스포츠토토
Jeon clearly informed Cha, who shared a room with him at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, that "the professional stage is like this." He faced a crisis at the start of the first half by allowing a point, but the score was canceled after VAR, and afterwards, Huiz and Hong Chang-beom scored consecutive points to secure a 2-0 complete victory. Although they suffered a disappointing defeat, Hwaseong showed impressive performance with 62% possession and five shots on target.