In additional time in the second half, Tonghan's loss to Incheon Hyundai Steel failed to advance to the final of the 0-1 loss to Melbourne in the 女 ACL
May 22, 2025
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Incheon Hyundai Steel, led by head coach Huh Jung-jae, lost 0-1 to Melbourne City, Australia in the 2024-2025 WACL semifinals at Wuhan Sports Center Stadium in China on the 21st (Korea time).
This competition is the top competition of the women's club launched ambitiously by AFC, and this year is the first competition, and the prize money alone is $1 million (about 1.4 billion won). As the winning team of this tournament will be given the right to participate in the FIFA Women's Champions Cup in January next year with six continental champions as the "Asia representative", the motivation was more certain than ever.
Hyundai Steel advanced to the quarterfinals with two wins and one draw and No. 1 in Group A in the group stage of this tournament as the winner of the 2023 WK League (11 consecutive losses), and advanced to the semifinals by beating the quarterfinals and the 'Iran 1st round' Bam Cartoon 1-0 on their home turf in Incheon in March. Hyundai Steel, a traditional master who ranked third in 2019 and second last year during the club championship, sought to go to the finals for the second consecutive time, but failed to achieve its goal.
It has been a tight trend since the beginning of the first half. In the 5th minute of the first half, Hyundai Steel's Toriumi Yuka's shot was directed in front of the goalkeeper, and Melbourne Carly Rostbakken's mid-range shot hit the crossbar in the 9th minute of the first half. Kim Sung-mi's header following Yoon Hye-in's cross in the 22nd minute of the first half missed. They finished the first half 0-0. In the second half, coach Huh Jung-jae put in Haruhi Suzuki and Seo Ji-yeon to set up a winning move. Haruhi's header in the 26th minute of the second half and Haruhi's shot in the 37th minute of the second half were all missed. Melbourne Shelby McMahon's mid-range shot hit the net in the third minute of extra time in the second half, when the active offensive ended in nothing and extra time was expected. It was a painful loss.
Incheon Hyundai Steel captain Jang Chang could not hide his regret after the game. "As much as I participated on behalf of Korea, I wanted to bring good results, but I'm sad to be eliminated from the semifinals. I think I played as well as I prepared, but I lost because I didn't score when I got the opportunity." Melbourne City, which achieved a dramatic final, will compete for the championship with 'Anbang' Wuhan Zhang Da, who beat Ho Chi Minh City 2-0 at Wuhan Sports Center Stadium on the 24th.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
