On April 24, Tancheon Sports Complex hosted the Round of 16 (Round 4) of the 2023 Hana OneQ FA Cup between the K League 2 Seongnam FC and the K League 1 Pohang Steelers. There was a reason that made the meeting between the two teams from different stages more special. It was the presence of several second-generation soccer players.
Especially for Seongnam coach Lee Ki-hyung, it was a ‘father-son derby’. His son Ho-jae was in charge of Pohang’s front line and aimed a spear at his father. Pohang coach Kim Ki-dong said, “He’s been in good form lately and has shown good form since the beginning of the season. It’s a good story to play against his father’s team (Seongnam),” said Pohang coach Kim Ki-dong.
It wasn’t just Lee Ki-hyung and Ho-jae Buh. There were other sons of footballers who were part of the Korean soccer scene. Kim’s son Jun-ho, who plays with him in Pohang, started, while Jae-won, the son of Indonesia national team coach Shin Tae-yong, was in charge of Seongnam’s flank. Lee said, “(My son) has grown up well. I sent him a text for the first time saying I’m proud of him. I want him to score goals, but of course, I want us to win,” he said, adding, “I asked (Shin) to do a better job as a senior (second-generation soccer player),” he laughed.
Despite the warmth off the field, the game was fierce on it. But the difference in power was clear. Pohang, looking for a title on its 50th anniversary, didn’t make many changes from the regular season, while Seongnam, more concerned with promotion to K League 1 than the FA Cup, brought out a number of backup players who hadn’t had a chance to play before, 메이저사이트 such as Yoo Yoo-jin and Kook Tae-jung, with the weekend game in mind.
As expected, Pohang broke the game open quickly. Lee Ho-jae was on fire. After taking the lead in the 10th minute through Ha Chang-rae, Pohang took control 18 minutes later with another goal from Lee Ho-jae. Lee scored the final goal in the 13th minute of the second half for a 3-0 victory. After the first half goal, he performed a fiery ceremony without paying attention to his surroundings, but after scoring the wedge goal, he became somewhat subdued and entertaining. The father-son dynamics in the elimination game will be another interesting story.