50th Anniversary’ Pohang, FA Cup Champions for the First Time in 10 Years... Tie for Most Wins

4-2 band electrode in Jeonbuk... 2024-2025 ACLE tickets are also virtually secured

Professional soccer Pohang Steelers defeated Jeonbuk Hyundai and won the Korea Football Association (FA) Cup for the fifth time in total.

In the 2023 Hana One Q FA Cup final against Jeonbuk held at the Pohang Steel Yard on the 4th, Pohang won 4-2 thanks to Kim Jong-woo’s comeback goal in the 32nd minute of the second half when the score was tied at 2-2, and Hong Yun-sang’s key goal in extra time in the second half.

Pohang regained the FA Cup trophy 10 years after winning the 2013 tournament by winning the final against Jeonbuk.

In addition, they increased their total number of wins to 5 (1996, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2023), and tied for first place with the most wins along with Jeonbuk and Suwon Samsung.

It is even more valuable because it was a victory achieved on the 50th anniversary of its founding. 안전놀이터

Pohang was founded in April 1973.

With this win, Pohang also qualifies for the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE).

Starting from the 2024-2025 season, ACLE was newly established above the existing Champions League (ACL), and three ACLE tickets were distributed to Korea.

Discussions between the Football Association, which has the final decision-making authority, and the Professional Football Federation, over whether to grant one ticket to the ACLE, which takes over the status of the top club competition from the ACL, to the FA Cup winning team, have not ended, but at least the ACLE of Pohang, the FA Cup winning team this time, It is safe to say that advancement to the first competition is virtually confirmed.

An official from the Football Association said, “It is the basic policy of the Football Association that the FA Cup winning team should be eligible to participate in top club competitions.

Even if there is a change in this policy, Pohang has already confirmed winning the FA Cup in the ACLE for the 2024-2025 season.”

“It is ‘in the realm of common sense’ that we should participate,” he said.

By securing ACLE tickets early, Pohang eased the burden of competing for rankings in the remaining three K League 1 games.

According to the Football Association’s existing ticket distribution policy, even the second-place team in K-League 1 will receive ACLE participation rights. With three games left, Pohang is currently in second place (60 points), Gwangju FC is third (57 points), and Jeonbuk is fourth. (53 points).

On the contrary, Jeonbuk Hyundai was in a situation where in order to advance to the ACLE, they had to win all the remaining games and hope for a ’comeback runner-up finish’.

What conclusion the professional league will make regarding the ’player replacement mistake’ incident that occurred in the 35th round of the K League 1 match between Jeonbuk and Pohang has become more important to Jeonbuk than to Pohang.

At that time, the game ended in a 1-1 draw, and Jeonbuk requested the professional league to forfeit Pohang’s 0-3 loss.

Jeonbuk failed to win a single official game against Pohang this season and recorded 1 draw and 4 losses.

Kim In-seong, who was at the center of the substitution error incident, Jeka, and Ko Young-jun took charge of Pohang’s attack as starters.

In Jeonbuk, Gustavo, Song Min-gyu, and Han Kyo-won started the goal hunt from the front.

Song Min-gyu, who debuted as a professional in Pohang and played for four years before transferring to Jeonbuk in 2021, opened the goal for his home team.

In the 17th minute of the first half, Song Min-gyu’s right-footed non-stop shot from Gustavo’s low cross was blocked by Jeonbuk goalkeeper Hwang In-jae, and he shot again from the left corner of the goal to score the first goal.

Pohang leveled the game with Han Chan-hee’s equalizer in the 44th minute of the first half.

When Ko Young-jun’s low cross from the left hit the Jeonbuk defender’s foot and flowed straight to the goal area, Han Chan-hee finished with a right-footed non-stop shot to make it 1-1.

Jeonbuk took a step ahead again with Gustavo’s penalty kick goal in the 6th minute of the second half.

Previously, Jeonbuk Jeong Woo-jae was receiving the ball in the penalty area when he was tackled roughly by Pohang Shin Kwang-hoon and fell to the ground, and the referee declared Shin Kwang-hoon a foul after reviewing the video review (VAR).

Pohang also did not sit still.

In the 29th minute of the second half, Go Young-Jun trapped in front of the goal with his chest, and Jeka connected with a picturesque non-stop volley to equalize the score at 2-2.

In the end, it was Pohang that had the last laugh.

Midfielder Kim Jong-woo, who wore the Pohang uniform this season, scored his debut goal and the winning goal for Pohang.

In the 29th minute of the second half, he received Kim Seung-dae’s pass from midfield and fired a surprise left-footed mid-range shot from the penalty arc into the lower right corner of the goal.

Pohang celebrated the victory by scoring a key goal in extra time in the second half with a right-footed curling shot from the left corner of the goal area by Hong Yun-sang.