If Ulsan Hyundai was the “big thing” in the K League 1 in 2023, winning back-to-back titles, the traditional powerhouse Yeongdeungpo Gonggo is enjoying a second heyday in the high school league, sweeping trophies in almost every competition. Starting with the Baekwoongi championship in February, Yeongdeungpo Gonggo, which produced Heo Jeong-moo, swept through the National High School Football League Regional League in June, the Seoul Metropolitan Team Selection for the South High School Division at the National Championships in July, the Presidential Gold Medal in August, the National High School League King of Kings and 78th National High School Championship, and the South High School Division at the National Championships in October to write a ‘legend’ of six titles. School soccer officials agree that it is hard to find a precedent for a team to win not only the league and national championships but also the national championship.
At the center of the high school soccer world’s greatest championship streak is Kim Jae-woong, the head coach of Yeongdeungpo Gonggo. Kim, a former player and coach at Yeongdeungpo Technical High School who took the helm in 2007, has made history with his wealth of experience, unwavering philosophy, and “fatherly leadership” that cares for his players as if they were his own children. In particular, he raised the profile of his alma mater by lifting the Presidential Gold Medal Trophy, a trophy that Yeongdeungpo Technical High School had not won in more than 50 years. As a player, coach, and manager, Kim was “lucky” to win the trophy.
“I read an article about Japanese baseball player Ohtani doing a lot of volunteer work to get lucky,” he says, “and I suddenly thought, ‘What did I do to get lucky? Like the tortoise in Aesop’s fable ‘The Hare and the Tortoise,’ I walked in silence. So, I think sincerity surpasses talent,” he said. This year, Yeongdeungpo Gonggo played 43 matches, winning 40, drawing 2 and losing 1, an overwhelming record.
“We were lucky to have good players enroll at the same time,” Kim said, but it was Kim himself who discovered the promising players and put them in the Yeongdeungpo Gonggo uniform. “There were a lot of unusual players this year,” he says, “and they were very close to each other. A player named Son Seung-min confidently told me that he would take revenge on the players who came to our school because they couldn’t make it to a professional team. Then we won a tournament with many professional teams. I’ve never seen such cohesion before. We won the tournament with two players, and we won the tournament with five players, like the national championship.” 무지개토토 도메인
The six titles cannot be achieved by the players alone. I was curious about Kim’s philosophy. “There’s something I always say to the players. “I always say to the players, ‘We don’t have a tactic. I don’t want them to think out of the box. When attacking, you can be as creative as you want, but I emphasized that there shouldn’t be a player who doesn’t defend after losing the ball. When we got the ball in their zone, we had three or four people attacking in an organized way, and I think that’s why teams against us were confused. It may be ignorant and simple in some ways, but isn’t that the trend in world soccer?” he said.
Kim got his first taste of German soccer when he played for Bayer Leverkusen’s second team for four years after attending Korea University. He still travels to Germany every year after the season to study soccer.
Leave a Reply