'Oil money withdrawal operation'...Gwangju FC is the 'only' hope for stagnant Korean football
'Oil money withdrawal operation'...Gwangju FC is the 'only' hope for stagnant Korean football
Blog Article
When I meet soccer players these days, I talk a lot of worried things.
"The national team is weaker than expected."
"There are no new superstars in domestic professional football, and big clubs that lead the popularity are also slowing down."
"Because of the poor grass, the level of play has dropped and there are many injuries."
"Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae, and Hwang Hee-chan are not doing well."
"Discontent with the referee's decision and jagged standards also played a part."
"Because of the sharp criticism against the soccer community, the soccer community is in a state of complete chaos."
While spectators explode in professional baseball, the number of visitors to professional soccer has stagnated or decreased somewhat. As mentioned above, there are many reasons for the decline in soccer popularity. It is not just anyone's responsibility, and it is not something that anyone can solve on their own. To put it bluntly, there seems to be no sharp trick to overcome the decline right now.
What actually throws the only hope at Korean soccer at the moment? Probably, not a few fans will pick Gwangju FC.
Gwangju is one of the lowest-paid clubs in the top division of the K-League. It cannot be denied that it is a small club in terms of club size, infrastructure, and number of spectators. However, Gwangju's influence is growing. Gwangju ranks second after Daejeon in the Korean league this season. What's more surprising is that it is the only Korean team that made it to the quarterfinals in the Asian Champions League. Ulsan HD and Pohang Steelers were eliminated.
Gwangju will play a single quarterfinal match against Saudi powerhouse Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia at 1:30 a.m. on the 26th in Korean time. According to the transfermarkt analysis, the market price of Al Hilal is 180 million euros and Gwangju is 8.6 million euros. Gwangju is one-tenth of the total. In terms of the total salary, Gwangju falls further by about one-thirtieth. Al Hilal, who ranks second in the Saudi professional league this season, broke up with Brazilian superstar Neymar in February, but players from the five major European leagues, including João Cancelo, 31, the Portuguese national team who led the heyday of Manchester City, Hoobeng Neves (28, Portugal), Aleksandar Mitrovic (31, Serbia), and Kalidou Koulibaly (34, Senegal), will play.
It is hard to say that Gwangju is highly likely to win due to objective inferiority in power and burden of away games. Global soccer media believe that the probability of winning Al Hilal is 75%, the probability of a draw is 15%, and the probability of winning Gwangju is 10%. Betting companies also set dividend rates of 1.3 times for Al Hilal victory, 5 times for draw and 10 times for Gwangju victory. The high dividend rate means that the feasibility is low.
In soccer, however, not all soccer players win just because their salaries are high and there are many stars. If Korea continues to bully strong players, it will be competitive. Such was the case with Korea's performance at the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan, and this was the strength that Korea beat Portugal, Spain, and Italy to advance to the semifinals. "I want to build a new clubhouse and change weight training facilities with 10 million U.S. dollars in prize money," Gwangju coach Lee Jung-hyo said before leaving the country. The prize money is mostly cash gifts from companies in Southwestern Asia (Middle East) countries to the Asian Football Confederation. 안전놀이터
Gwangju has been courageous and relentless in the Asian Games. The team deserves applause. Still, it is hoped that the team will make the victory sound several more times. This will be a rebound that instills great hope, courage and confidence in Korean soccer, which has been stagnant. In soccer, only 11 players play on the ground, not spectators, referees, weather, or jet lag.