Hwang Moon-ki, who wore the Taegeuk mark at age 27, said, "I can't believe it's becoming a reality"
Hwang Moon-ki, who wore the Taegeuk mark at age 27, said, "I can't believe it's becoming a reality"
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The Taegeuk mark? I can't believe it now that it's actually become a reality."
Hwang Moon-ki (Gangwon FC), who was first selected for the national soccer team at the age of 27, said this.
Although Hwang Moon-ki has been consistently active in the professional soccer K-League, he was not considered a player of 'national team level'.
His change of position from midfielder to fullback at the end of last season was a 'godsend'.
He contributed to his team Gangwon's K League 1 lead by showing outstanding performance as a right-back and was called up by national team coach Hong Myung-bo.
In an interview released through the Korea Football Association on the 3rd, Hwang Moon-ki said, "I was working hard with a rookie's mindset as I transitioned to fullback, and coach (Hong Myung-bo) looked favorably on me, so I was selected for this call-up. I think I have to work hard."
He continued, "I never imagined (being selected for the national team). While we were training in the winter, coach (Gangwon Yun Jeong-hwan) kept telling me that if I worked on my weaknesses, I could make it to the national team, but now that it's become a reality, I can't believe it."
Coach Hong visited the Gangwon match site twice. According to a national team official, Coach Hong went to check on Hwang Moon-ki.
Hwang Moon-ki said he only guessed that Coach Hong was coming to see Gangwon because the ranking was high, and that he had no idea that he would come to see him.
Hwang Moon-ki said, "I didn't care (about Coach Hong's visit to Gangwon). 커뮤니티 What mattered was how I did on the team."
Hwang Moon-ki doesn't have much experience with national teams by age group. He was selected for the U-17 national team in 2012 and played in three matches at the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship.
Hwang Moon-ki says he feels awkward because he doesn't have many 'familiar people' on the current national team.
Hwang Moon-ki said, "It's my first training session, but I'm still very nervous. I don't know many people, so I think I have to become close with them quickly," and added, "My senior from high school (Hyundai High School), (Jeong) Seung-hyun, and my junior, (Lee) Dong-kyung, always take care of me. Just saying 'let's hang out together' is like them taking good care of me," and he smiled.
The national team fullback position is like a 'no man's land'.
As veterans Kim Jin-soo and Kim Tae-hwan (both Jeonbuk), who have been in charge of this position for a long time, have aged and stepped down from the national team, several young players have been challenging for the 'permanent' position since last year.
On the left, Seol Young-woo (Zvezda) appears to have the upper hand in the competition, but on the right, a literal 'endless competition' is unfolding.
Hwang Moon-ki said, "I'm not thinking about the World Cup. I think the environment, reality, and now are the most important. I think that if I think of every training session as the last and have that mindset, I think I can go to a good place."