Rookie midfielder Park Tae-yong of the Jeonnam Dragons of the Korean Football League (K League 2) filled in the “2%” that was lacking in the team’s final regular-season home game of the season: goal-scoring ability.
Park is a “local boy” who joined Jeonnam as a priority pick ahead of this season.
The expectations of Jeonnam coach Lee Jang-soo and fans were high for Park, who played for Gwangyang Steel and Gwangyang Steel High School, two of Jeonnam’s top youth teams, and also played well at Kwangwoon University.토토사이트
However, his debut season did not go well.
Injuries prevented him from completing winter training satisfactorily.
There were also positional issues. Park is a defensive midfielder by nature, but Jeonnam has a veteran in the position in the form of George Hoon (33).
Lee asked Park to play a more forward role, covering the midfield with a lot of activity, rather than a defensive midfielder, which he did not do well at first.
Park made his professional debut in April against Chungnam Asan in the third round of the Korea Football Association FA Cup. He scored a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind goal in the match and made his mark on the Jeonnam fans.
However, it wasn’t until the second half of the season, when he struggled to adapt to his new role in the league, that he began to be used.
Despite the difficulties he faced on the field, there were more sighs of disappointment than satisfaction from the fans watching him.
Starting with the home game against Gimcheon Commerce on Aug. 20, his debut, Park missed crucial scoring opportunities in almost every game.
Lee is said to have given him an affectionate slap on the back, saying, “It’s time for you to score. Don’t feel any pressure and do it to your heart’s content.”
At the moment when Jeonnam needed a goal the most, Park’s ‘goal determination’ was complete.
On the 12th, Jeonnam faced Busan I-Park, a team that was on the verge of winning the championship, at home at Gwangyang Football Stadium.
It was expected to be a tough match as Jeonnam had lost to Busan 1-1 this season. Moreover, Busan was on a nine-match (eight wins and one draw) unbeaten streak in the second half of the season.
Park Tae-yong defied expectations and stepped up to the plate for Jeonnam.
In the 11th and 16th minutes of the first half, he scored back-to-back goals off passes from Im Chan-ul. He exploded for his K League debut and first multi-goal game.
Thanks to Park Tae-yong’s performance, Jeonnam won 3-0 against Busan. The team moved up to sixth place, one point behind fifth-place Bucheon FC (54 points), which is the last team to qualify for the promotion PO.
Jeonnam will now advance to the Promotion PO with a win against Bucheon in the final round.
Park Tae-yong said at the post-match press conference, “I think Chan-ul should buy his brother a meal. I practiced dropping into space in tactical training a week ago, and I think it worked out well,” Park said, reflecting on the goal.
“I’ve been disappointed in every game because I haven’t been able to capitalize on my chances,” he said. “I’m happy that I was lucky enough to score a multi-goal game in the last game. Especially since it was the last game at home,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
At 22 years old, Park will no longer be eligible for the U-21 national team next season. That makes this goal even more valuable to him.
When I asked him to highlight his strengths, he smiled mischievously and said, “Goal-scoring!” with a flourish.