“If I win, I want to hear people say, ‘It’s because Joo Min-gyu came and played his role.’”
Joo Min-gyu (33), a striker for Ulsan Hyundai in the K-League 1 professional soccer team, lived by these words all season long. He played for Jeju United until last season and returned to Ulsan this year, which was interpreted to mean that the pressure on him was considerable.
Joo Min-gyu is a ‘returning student’ from Ulsan. Joo Min-gyu, who dominated the K-League 2 (Second Division) as the top scorer at Seoul E-Land FC, wore the Ulsan uniform in 2019. However, the walls of the first division were higher than expected. He was pushed out of competition for the starting position and scored only 5 goals. Eventually, the following year, in 2020, he transferred to Jeju, which was a second-division team at the time.
Still, Ju Min-gyu did not give up. He honed his skills in Jeju. In 2021, he scored 22 goals and won the K League 1 top scorer for the first time in his career. Last year, he also recorded his most goals with 17 goals. However, he failed to win the top scorer award for two consecutive years because he played in more games than Cho Gyu-seong (Midtjylland), who scored the same number of goals.
Joo Min-gyu has grown into a top striker in the league, scoring 47 goals (89 games) in three seasons wearing the Jeju uniform. And he returned to Ulsan ahead of the opening of this season. Immediately after his return, he pledged his performance, saying, “It is more important to take over as Ulsan’s starting striker than to win the Taegeuk mark that I have never worn before.”
As he had hoped, this time was different. Joo Min-gyu overcame the competition for the starting position in Ulsan, a ‘star team’. Not only that, he played in 33 games this season and scored 15 goals. He established himself as a leading striker by scoring the most goals in Ulsan, which boasts powerful offense. In particular, he played a decisive role in helping Ulsan earn 3 points by scoring the winning goal in the 5th round against Jeju (3-1 win), the 12th round against Gangwon FC (1-0 win), and the 31st round against Suwon FC (3-2 win). did.
Veteran Joo Min-gyu’s true value was also revealed in the 35th round match against Daegu FC on the 29th when Ulsan confirmed the championship. He came on as a substitute in the 39th minute of the second half when Ulsan was ahead 1-0, and five minutes later, he assisted Jang Si-young’s key goal with a sharp long pass. Ulsan (70 points), who won 2-0, widened the point gap with second-place Pohang Steelers (60 points) to 10, confirming their second consecutive league victory (fourth overall) regardless of the results of the remaining three games. Joo Min-gyu is now considered the player who contributed the most to achieving two consecutive wins in the K League 1 for the first time in the club’s history. Joo Min-gyu, who ranks second in scoring after Daejeon Hana Citizen’s foreign striker Thiago (16 goals), is challenging to become the top scorer as well. Joo Min-gyu said, “Now that he has achieved his dream of winning his first championship, he will give up his desire to score goals that he had put aside for a while.”토스카지노 도메인
If Joo Min-gyu was the leader of Ulsan’s attack, goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo (32) was at the back. Ulsan, which boasted overwhelming power in the first half with 15 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, faltered in the second half with 6 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses. At that time, Jo Hyun-woo came forward. He comforted young players and transfers in the locker room, and shouted “Going” at the top of his voice from the last row of the field. Above all, he showed outstanding skills as a goalkeeper and gained the trust of Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo. According to BePro Eleven, a K-League data provider, as of the 28th, Jo Hyun-woo ranks first in save percentage among goalkeepers who have played in more than 30 regular league games. As of the 29th, when the league championship was confirmed, among goalkeepers who have played more than 20 games, the number of clean sheets (no goals conceded) games is the most at 12. Jo Hyun-woo said, “It was difficult and uneasy because we couldn’t win in the second half,” but “I wanted to show the coach’s trust as a result.” “I want to win more stars (wins) in Ulsan,” he said.