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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Gwangju Lee Jung Hyo-ho's gust was up to the quarterfinals.
Gwangju lost 0-7 at 1:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korea time) against Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the Asia Champions League Elite (ACLE) in the 2024-2025 season at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after dedicating a total of seven goals, three goals in the first half and four goals in the second half. Without overcoming the power gap with the opponent, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Leonardo, Salem al-Dosari, Aleksandr Mitrovic, Malkong, Naser al-Dosari and Abdullah al-Hamdan were helplessly allowed to lose the relay. Gwangju's aggressive 'Jeong Hyo Ball' showed no power in the 'Virtually Al Hilal' home game.
As a result, Gwangju's ACLE challenge ended unfortunately. Gwangju had a disappointing result, but it has already secured $1.8 million (about 2.6 billion won) in prize money by advancing to the ACLE quarterfinals. It earned more than five times the K League 1 prize money (500 million won), opening up the club's financial management. Above all, during the tournament, Gwangju, a club with a short history, was announced throughout Asia. He also introduced the charm of Lee Jung-hyo's offensive soccer. Coach Lee Jung-hyo said before the game, `I want to win. We need to win to build a new clubhouse"As he said, he is expected to try again next season with this defeat as a lesson on the other side. Al Hilal is scheduled to compete with the winner of the Al Ahliwa Buriram match on the 27th to advance to the final.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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"It's either a dog or a development." Lee made the remarks in a pre-press conference. There was a glimpse of his willingness to set up an aggressive lineup. Manager Lee set up an aggressive lineup as announced. Brazilian striker Hayes, who shows off his peak form without an authentic striker, has made it to the zero-top. Asani, who tied for the lead in scoring with nine goals in ACLE this season, was placed on the right side, and Gabriel, who has excellent breakthrough ability, was placed on the other side. Park Tae-joon and Choi Kyung-rok Lee Kang-hyun, who delayed their enlistment for the ACLE schedule, set up a midfield camp, while Cho Sung-kwon, Byun Jun-su, Min Sang-ki and Kim Jin-ho formed a four-back. Kim Kyung-min defended the goal.
Al Hilal's squad was spectacular, as if it were `Asia's strongest.' Coach Jorge Jesus Al Hilal has Aleksandar Mitrovic, Salem al-Dosari, Malkong, Leonardo, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Hoobeng Neves, Henang Lodi, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hasan Tambakti, João Cancelo and Bunuro Best Eleven. The market value of the Al Hilal squad is 295 billion won (based on Transfermarkt), more than 20 times that of Gwangju (14 billion won). Coach Lee said earlier, `We are better at organizing than Al Hilal,' adding, `We must win and win the prize money to build a new clubhouse and weight center.'
Gwangju increased its momentum in the early stages, but allowed the first run in six minutes. In the context of a corner kick, Kovich Savic, who pushed the ball that Aldosari floated to the gate of Gwangju, scored the net with a cut header using his tall body at Near Post. 8 min Malkong's diagonal cross touched Mitrovic's forehead in the box, but it went off the post. Gwangju continued to lose ground in the height fight, literally realizing the 'weight car'.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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8 min Gwangju got the first chance. Hayes poked a space pass to Asani, who was running to the opponent's gate, after acquiring ball ownership from the opponent's side. Asani, who caught the ball, attempted a left-footed shot in a one-on-one chance, but was blocked by Bunu's good defense, which emptied the goal and ran out, swallowing regret.
Another crisis came after the opportunity, but this time, the main goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min blocked additional runs with '3 consecutive saves'. Aldosari connected with a non-stop shot to Leonardo's cutback from the right side of the penalty area after digging into the back space of Gwangju's defense, but it was caught in Kim Kyung-min's hands. Mitrovic connected the bounced ball with a header, but Kim Kyung-min was blocked by his outstretched arm, and Savic's shot was also blocked.
However, Kim Kyung-min could not block all shots. Al Hilal, who was persistently digging into Gwangju's left side, scored an additional goal in the 25th minute. Savic's space pass quickly broke down Gwangju's defense. Malkong, who caught the ball from the right, stabbed a ground ball cross, which Leonardo accurately inserted into the bottom right of the goal with a non-stop right-footed shot. Savic and Leonardo, who are playing their best for Al Hilal this season, scored back-to-back goals.
Gwangju was shaken without mercy. In the 33rd minute, in a counter-attack, Leonardo was stabbed in a space pass by Aldosari running towards the gate. Aldosori, who caught the ball, scored his third goal after shaking off the defense's pursuit at high speed. Confused, coach Lee quickly pulled out the counterattack card by removing Gabriel in the 35th minute and putting in the afternoon. Hayes' right-footed shot in the 40th minute was thrown into the opponent's goalkeeper's arms without force. Al Hilal put Yasser al-Shahrani out of Cancelo, who injured his hamstring in the 42nd minute. In the second minute of extra time in the first half, Leonardo's mid-range shot went off the goal, and the first half ended with Al Hilal's 3-0 lead.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Al Hilal's walls were high. Early in the second half, he took high possession of the ball for a while, but it was only for a while. Mitrovic's mid-range shot went over the net in the fifth minute of the second half. However, Mitrovic did not miss a chance in the 10th minute of the second half. Savic, who broke down Gwangju's side defense again with a momentary movement, stabbed a sharp cross into the door, which Mitrovic scored with a right-footed non-stop shot. In the 20th minute of the second half, Malkong's header slightly missed the post, but in the process, the Gwangju defense helplessly gave up the side to the opponent.
In the 21st minute of the second half, coach Lee tried to make a major change by excluding Lee Kang-hyun, Choi Kyung-rok, and putting in Joo Se-jong, Park In-hyuk, and Kim Han-gil. Jesus also put in Cao Cesar and Nasser Al Dosari without Leonardo and Aldosari in the 23rd minute of the second half. Malkong's shot hit the crossbar in the 29th minute of the second half. Malkong, who had no luck in scoring, made his team's fifth score in the 34th minute of the second half. He opened the goal by avoiding the defense of Kim Kyung-min, who ran after breaking down the Gwangju defense with a pass against Mitrovic. Gwangju, which lost its concentration, collapsed in the 39th and 43rd minutes of the second half, conceding additional goals to Nasser Al Dosari and Abdullah Al-Hamdan, who replaced them side by side. In the 41st minute of the second half, Byun Jun-su retreated to the bench and Ahn Young-kyu was put in. Gwangju finished the ACLE challenge with a crushing defeat by seven goals without even trying to use it, similar to the match between Korea and Brazil in the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
