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In 2025, Korean soccer '1st Miracle' was born Gwangju, led by director Lee Jung-hyo, made it to the quarterfinals by writing a great drama that was comparable to the drama "Kamnu's Miracle" and "Anfield's Miracle".
Gwangju made an extraordinary turnaround in the second round of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) round of 16 home games against Kobe in the 2024-2025 season at Gwangju World Cup Stadium on the 12th. Gwangju, which returned from a 0-2 loss in Kobe on the 5th, took the lead with Park Jung-in's first goal in the 18th minute of the first half, and then tied the score in total with Asani's dramatic penalty equalizer in the 40th minute of the second half. Gwangju, which gained momentum, made it 3-0 with Asani's theater wonder goal in the 13th minute of the second half of extra time, making it 3-2 in total to qualify for the quarterfinals. Kobe, who gave Gwangju two losses earlier, also got revenge. Asani shot his eighth and ninth goals and tied for first in the scoring rankings.
Gwangju, which advanced to the ACLE for the first time since the club's foundation by ranking a surprise third in the K League 1 in 2023, was the only K-League team to reach the round of 16, and made it to the quarterfinals. Gwangju is the first city and province team in the K League to reach the quarterfinals at the top of the Asian Club competition. The previous record was the round of 16 written by Daegu in 2021. Gwangju will compete with Buriram United in a single match to advance to the semifinals in the quarterfinals tournament, which will be played in Saudi Arabia next month. The teams that advanced to the quarterfinals in the ACLE East are Korea Team 1 (Gwangju) and Japan Team 2 (Yokohama F).Marinos, Kawasaki Frontale) and Thailand. China's Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Sanggang were both eliminated in the round of 16.
Gwangju also secured at least $1.8 million (about 2.6 billion won) in prize money by advancing to the quarterfinals. The total amount includes $800,000 (about 1.1 billion won) in prize money for ACLE participation, $400,000 in winning allowance for league stage (100,000 dollars per win, about 580 million won), $200,000 in prize money for advancing to the round of 16 (about 290 million won), and $400,000 in prize money for advancing to the quarterfinals. If you reach the semifinals, you can earn an additional $600,000 (about 870 million won).
Earlier, coach Lee said, `The ACLE stage is very important because Gwangju, a civic club, is poor. I want to earn as much prize money as possible and contribute to the team's management" it once said. Gwangju hit the so-called jackpot with a performance that far exceeded expectations.
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Coach Lee set up Park Jung-in, Hayes, as the offensive spearhead, and entrusted both wings to Asani Ohsung. Park Tae-joon and Lee Kang-hyun defended the midfield, and Kim Jin-ho, Cho Sung-kwon, Min Sang-ki, and Lee Min-ki set up a four-back. Kim Kyung-min wore goalkeeper gloves. 'Ace' Choi Kyung-rok was included in the replacement entry for the first time after shaking off his injury.
Gwangju, which needs to chase by two goals, took the lead with strong pressure early in the game. In the 6th minute, the opposing goalkeeper Maegawa blew himself away from Oh Ho-seong's shot in front of the goal. In the ensuing attack, Hayes' shot in front of the gate was also caught by Maegawa and was ineffective. Kobe, who bullied Gwangju with two headers in the first game, also tapped Gwangju's goal with a side cross on the day.
In the 18th minute of the first half, Gwangju fired a miracle signal. Hayes, who was dribbling from the left side of the opponent's side, was fouled by Kawasaki. Guwasaki was given a warning. Park Tae-joon's free kick in front of the goal hit Park Jung-in's forehead and crossed the goalkeeper's height into the goal. Park Jung-in, who joined Gwangju this year, scored his debut goal in Gwangju in an important game.
In the 29th minute of the first half, Miyashiro's mid-range shot went off the post. In the 32nd minute, Min Sang-ki received applause from the home crowd for a neat cutting from the defense. 33 min Gwangju had a chance to score an additional goal. The afternoon star poked a clever pass at Hayes running to the gate, and Hayes, who caught the ball, quickly connected with a shot, but was blocked by Kobe defender's tackle. Coach Lee Jung-hyo expressed regret by holding his head with his hands.
The first half ended with Gwangju leading by one goal.
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Early in the second half, the game entered a lull. The two teams engaged in a more frequent fight than a fight. The referee's whistle went on. The tempo of the game was cut off. Coach Lee, who was in a hurry, made a gesture to wait for the game to proceed faster at about eight minutes in the second half. In the 10th minute of the second half, there was a war of nerves between Park Tae-joon and Kobe Ogihara in Gwangju.
Kobe took out Miyashiro in the 11th minute and put in Yoshinori Muto to change the offense. Ogihara was warned in the 13th minute of the second half when he hit Park Tae-joon in the face as he dribbled out. Gwangju shot its first shot in the second half only in the 19th minute of the second half. Hayes' bold mid-range shot was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and went out of the goal line. Cho Seong-kwon's header in the 20th minute was weakly placed in the goalkeeper's arms.
In the 21st minute of the second half, coach Lee showed a winning move. In place of Park Jung-in, tall striker Park In-hyuk was put in. Kobe also changed the midfield by putting in Eric and Yosuke Ideguchi, excluding Kawasaki and Ide. In the 27th minute of the second half, Asani's shot was deflected off the defense and placed in the goalkeeper's arms. In the 28th minute, Sasaki's shot slightly off the post and crossed the crisis. In the 32nd minute of the second half, coach Lee even pulled out Joo Se-jong's card.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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The quiet stadium heated up in the 37th minute of the second half. Gwangju's cross hit Iwanami's arm in the opponent's penalty area. The referee declared a penalty after operating VAR on-field reviews. In the 40th minute of the second half, Asani, a kicker, equalized and scored his eighth ACLE goal. Gwangju returned the game to square one with Asani's goal, 2-2.
In the 42nd minute of the second half, Ideguchi's volley was deflected off his Kobe teammate's body and cut into the Gwangju net, but the referee declared the score canceled due to a handball foul. For Gwangju, it's a scene that's relieved. As all six minutes of extra time in the first half passed, the game went into extra time. Ideguchi's left footed shot slightly off the crossbar in the fifth minute of extra time. Soon Ho-seong hit back, but he couldn't reach the net. In the 14th minute of the first half of extra time, Park In-hyuk connected Lee Min-ki's cross with a header, but he was blocked by the goalkeeper's super save.
Kobe, who only had one effective shot until the first half of extra time, still suffered from a lack of concentration in shooting. In the first minute of the second half, Yamauchi's shot went off the post. Gwangju had a great chance in the 3rd minute. Asani got a shot chance by receiving a pass from right Lee Min-ki in the box, but the ball that left Asani's foot was deflected off the opponent's defender's body and goal-lined out, swallowing regret. Min Sang-ki, who complained of leg pain in the 7th minute of the second half of extra time, was out and Bruno was put in. Choi Kyung-rok was put in place of the 10-minute afternoon castle. The rest of the time was a battle of 'one goal', 'concentration'. There was Asani in Gwangju. In the 13th minute of the second half of extra time, Asani's picturesque left-footed mid-range shot was sucked into the net. The game ended with Gwangju's 3-0 victory and a combined 3-2 victory. A new miracle was written at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium, where the semi-finals of the 2002 Korea-World Cup were written, for the first time in 23 years.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
