Jeju United’s (Jeju) “Captain” Choi Young-jun (31) celebrated his 300th career K League appearance with a stellar performance and a thrilling win that fans have been waiting for.
Jeju earned a 2-0 victory in their Hana OneQ K League 1 Round 34 home match against Suwon at Jeju World Cup Stadium on Sunday, October 22 at 2 p.m., thanks to back-to-back goals from Kim Gun-woong in the third minute and Yuri Jonatan in the 25th minute. With the win, ninth-ranked Jeju (38 points) snapped a seven-match winless streak (one draw and six defeats) and extended its lead over relegation-threatened 10th-ranked Suwon (32 points) to six points. It was also the first win under acting head coach Chung Jo-kook and a complete turnaround in fortunes.
After the game, acting head coach Chung said, “When we need courage, we unite in faith. We believed in each other. Today’s victory is the result of all the members of Jeju coming together as one,” he said, citing the ‘one team’ as the driving force behind the victory. And it was captain Choi Young-joon who held the center of the shaky Jeju team. Before the game, Choi told the players, “We can overcome the current crisis if we unite and focus all our capabilities. Let’s do our best with the determination to go to war with the pride of Jeju.” He rallied the team.토스카지노
On the field, he spoke with his performance. In a game where the first goal was of utmost importance, it was a heel pass from a corner kick in the fourth minute that caught the opposition off guard and set up Kim Gun-woong’s goal, inviting victory. He also led a tight team atmosphere. Even when his teammates made mistakes, he would go up to them and give them high fives to keep their confidence up. When things weren’t going well, he was the “voice leader” on the field, loudly encouraging his teammates.
Choi literally gave it his all, and even after he was subbed off with Kim Seung-seop in the 28th minute of the second half, he stayed on as the 12th man with the fans, who continued to applaud and cheer him on. “It was a desperate game for both teams, and for the Jeju fans, it was more than desperate. But in order to have a happy ending, you have to be confident. Today, Jeju showed their confidence by not being afraid to make mistakes, so they were able to give their fans a victory. I’m really happy,” she said.
It was also an important game for Choi himself. Choi started the game and reached the milestone of 300 career K League appearances. The K League’s unspoken hero, who is a great example to younger players with his skill and sincerity, said, “The team always comes first. I don’t need to shine. The best thing I can do is to go one step further than my opponent so that my team and teammates can shine even more. No star shines alone. I can only shine if my team and teammates shine,” he said.