Seoul and Pohang will have a showdown in the seventh round of the “Hana Bank K League 1 2024” at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Pohang is the lone lead with four wins, one draw and one loss (13 points). Seoul is sixth with two wins, three draws and one loss (nine points). Both teams had shaky start after losing the opening match, but have been undefeated in five consecutive matches. With the “Kim Ki-dong narrative” penetrating both teams, the two sides will clash head-on amid an upward trend. This is by far the best big match of the seventh round.
Kim Ki-dong spent nine years as a player in Pohang (2003-2011) and three years as a coach (2016-2018) and five years as a coach (2019-2023). Back then, Kim displayed outstanding performance when it came to investment. He won the Coach of the Year award in the 2020 season. He led Pohang to win the Korea Cup and ranking second in the K-League last season. He stood tall as a master of the K-League. The Seoul club offered favorable conditions, and Pohang could not afford to do so.
Coach Park Tae-ha took the helm. When Kim Ki-dong was a player at Pohang, Park was a coach (2005-2007). Park was a Pohang One Club man when he was an active player, and served as Seoul’s chief coach after he became a leader (2012). In recognition of his stellar performance in leading Pohang in the early days of this season, Park even won the K-League’s monthly manager award. Pohang Captain Wandelsson expected, “It would be nice to meet Coach Kim Ki-dong for the first time in a long time,” but cautioned, “It will be a more difficult game because he knows us well as he has been in Pohang for a long time.”
Still, I am not going to sit down and win. “However, the squad has changed significantly compared to last year. I am playing a different style of soccer with Coach Park Tae-ha. I will do my best. I hope they respect each other and display good performances,” Wandelson said.
For Pohang, coach Park Tae-ha’s “Taeha Time” stands out. Pohang scored eight of its nine goals in the second half. In particular, a replacement player collaborated on four goals and two assists. Seoul scored six goals in the first half and two goals in the second half. With the home advantage on its back, Seoul is expected to be strong from the first half. The main point to watch is how Pohang will endure through the first half and what kind of customized card it will take out in the second half. 메이저 토토사이트
Meanwhile, Pohang is absolutely inferior to Seoul with five draws and four losses in nine recent matches. Its last victory was April 10, 2021. This means that it has not beaten Seoul for almost three years under Kim Ki-dong. It is also questionable whether Park Tae-ha will break the jinx. Seoul star Jesse Lingard has missed the last three games with a knee injury, but chances are high that he will return to Pohang this time.