The sense of goal has reached its peak.
Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart), who participated in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, scored a hat trick (3 goals) against Kuwait in the first match of Group E of the group stage. Thanks to Jung Woo-young’s performance, Korea achieved a 9-0 victory and announced a smooth sailing.
In the second match against Thailand, he was excluded from the starting list for rest, and unfortunately did not score a goal after entering the game in the second half. In the third game that followed, he failed to open the goal against Bahrain.
However, after entering the tournament, he continued his scoring streak again. He scored multiple goals in the round of 16 against Kyrgyzstan and contributed to a 5-1 victory. Although they faltered for a moment in the quarterfinals against China, where they won 2-0, they scored multiple goals against their rival Uzbekistan in the semifinals, leading Korea to advance to the finals.
Jung Woo-young scored two goals against Uzbekistan in the semifinals held at the Huanglong Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on the 4th. With his 7th goal in this tournament, he ranked first in scoring.
Jung Woo-young, who ran without hesitation, said about becoming the leading scorer, “The players helped and supported me well,” and “I was able to play a good game thanks to the many conversations we had, starting with captain (Baek) Seung-ho and all the way to the youngest members.” He expressed his feelings. At the same time, he smiled and said, “I think I got a decisive chance thanks to my best efforts.”
In the 37th minute of the first half, when the score was tied 1-1, the team took advantage of a mistake in the opposing defense to quickly penetrate and score a key goal. Jung Woo-young recalled the situation at the time, “I thought I would kick the ball when the opponent’s defense turned their backs, but I think I was lucky enough to get a chance and hit it.”
In this competition, Jung Woo-young’s signature ceremony was born. Jung Woo-young, who looks at the back of his hand as if checking his watch every time he scores a goal, explained, “I wanted to remember the time I scored the goal, and I wanted to create my own celebration.”
Although he is a regular player in his team, he has not scored as many goals (1 goal in 3 games). Jung Woo-young, who has a particularly good feel for goals in this tournament, said, “I don’t play with much thought,” but “I think I have a good feeling when I’m training or when I catch the ball.” He then grinned, saying, “He seems to have gained confidence that he can score a goal.”
It is worth challenging the record of Hwang Ui-jo (Norwich City), who became the top scorer with 9 goals in the Jakarta-Palembang tournament five years ago. However, Jung Woo-young said, “It would be nice if we could score more goals, but first, it would be nice to win.”스포츠토토
Korea advances to the finals and faces Japan for the gold medal. Jung Woo-young, who is aiming for a third consecutive victory following the 2014 Incheon Games, raised his voice, saying, “I’m really looking forward to it. All the players came this far just watching the finals,” and added, “I think I’m more motivated because it’s a Korea-Japan match.” At the same time, he pledged, “I will do my best to play a good game.”
Since it is a Korea-Japan match, there will be some pressure. However, Jung Woo-young said, “I think the psychological part is all the same,” and said, “It may be difficult mentally, but I will do my best to overcome it.”
Other players also shared their aspirations ahead of the Korea-Japan match. Lee Kang-in said, “I will do my best to achieve a good result,” and Lee Kwang-yeon gritted his teeth and said, “I absolutely do not want to concede a goal as it is a match between Korea and Japan. I will not lose to Japan no matter what.”