"The person who used to put a cone under me grew a lot!" Who is the incumbent leader who openly ignored director Lee Jung-hyo?
"The person who used to put a cone under me grew a lot!" Who is the incumbent leader who openly ignored director Lee Jung-hyo?
Blog Article
Gwangju FC coach Lee Jung-hyo, who is doing well, is also being checked by current leaders.
Coach Lee Jung-hyo, who took office in Gwangju in 2022, showed off impressive performances by leading the team to the K League 2 title as soon as he assumed the leadership. Gwangju continued its strides by ranking third in the K League 1 in 2023. As a team of provincial residents, the team has advanced to the Asian Champions League.
The craze for Lee Jung-hyo is not over. The team advanced to the elite quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League this season. With champion Ulsan and Pohang, a traditional powerhouse, also eliminated, it became the first provincial team to advance to the quarterfinals.
Gwangju is the only Korean team that survives and plays against the strongest teams in Asia. Gwangju's opponent in the quarterfinals is Al Hilal, a prestigious Saudi club. It paid Neymar an annual salary of 283.8 billion won (approx. One Al Hilal player surpasses the size of Gwangju FC, which did not even have a proper training ground until last season.
Lee, who is a non-mainstream coach, came this far only with his performance. He was neither a member of the "Fourth Round" nor had any experience playing for the national team in 2002. Lee, who has been a leader from the bottom up, proved everything with his performance.
The soccer community's view of him is not as good as it is. There are still many groups that are jealous of coach Lee Jung-hyo's success, thinking about his active player days or his early years as a leader.
In the documentary "Yellow Spirit 2024" that reveals the back of Gwangju, Lee Jung-hyo made an anecdote about the coach. Ahead of the match against Ulsan on Aug. 25, 24, Lee told the players in the locker room, "I became a coach after coaching. I have grown up and moved up in a different position, but I have to change my name (when the opponent calls me)." Then (the opponent coach) said, "The guy who played with the cone under me grew a lot."
The incumbent leader openly ignored coach Lee Jung-hyo by bringing up his past career. Regardless of his career and age, it is not a courtesy to the incumbent K League 1 coach.
There is no leader in the Korean soccer community who has achieved more recently than coach Lee Jung-hyo. "Why do I have to be told this?" said Lee.
Citing the reason why he respects Kim Pan-gon, Lee said, "No matter how much I am a student, the teacher recognizes me as a coach. He is a true adult and a true coach. That's why I respect him."
Coach Kim Pan-gon has respected Lee Jung-hyo as a leader-to-leader, regardless of his past career and age.
There is a proverb that says, "When a cousin buys rice paddies, his stomach hurts." The same applies to the soccer community. Many people have a stomachache because of Lee Jung-hyo's success. Lee Jung-hyo did worse than he did when he was a player, and he was a late coach, but he couldn't admit it because his stomach hurt even more when he made it. Perhaps, it is a disease not only in the soccer community but also in Korean society as a whole.
Coach Lee Jung-hyo was kicked out directly after kicking a water bottle against Daejeon recently. The referee did not give proper explanation to coach Lee Jung-hyo and Gwangju, sparking controversy.
The KFA's judging panel only blamed Lee Jung-hyo, saying, "It is also coach's ability to figure out the propensity of referees and devise tactics." The remarks were sufficient to cause misunderstanding that referees make different decisions while watching the coach.
Gwangju will participate in the ACLE quarterfinals tournament to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from May 25. From the quarterfinals to the final on May 4, it is a one-off match. If Gwangju wins the championship, the prize money will be 10 million U.S. dollars. Perhaps, as there is no reason to be jealous of coach Lee Jung-hyo as in Korea, a fair match is possible only with his ability. 안전놀이터
Coach Lee Jung-hyo said, "I want to go to Saudi Arabia and go to the finals. The prize money is 10 million dollars. I want to use that money to help Gwangju finance itself," he said. Gwangju has already surpassed the K League 1 championship prize money by earning 1.8 million U.S. dollars just by advancing to the ACLE quarterfinals.