▲ Soccer player Kang Soo-il Ⓒ Wikipedia
Soccer player Kang Soo-il is a player with a unique background and a vibrant career in Korean football at the same time. In Korean football, a rare’multicultural family’ came from, and at one time appeared to be using the legend of success, such as showing top skills in the K-League and boarding the national team. Also mentioned.
Kang Soo-il began his professional career by joining Incheon United in 2007 as an extra-nominated K-League draft. After that, he started to make his name known little by little through Pohang Steelers and Jeju United, and in 2014, he scored 6 goals and 3 assists for Pohang, and was nominated for the best 11 midfielder in the K League.
In particular, in recognition of his performance in the league, the scene included in the list of training for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which was led by coach Ulley Stilike at the time, became a hot topic. Heung-min Son, Cheong-yong Lee, Kyo-won Han, Min-woo Kim, and Tae-hee Nam failed to make it to the final list after being pushed out of the competition for positions, but Kang Soo-il’s name became an opportunity to attract national attention from soccer fans. If Kang Soo-il played in the A match as the national team, it would be the second ever after Jang Dae-il, who played in the 1998 World Cup in France, a rare mixed-race player.
Kang Soo-il continued his good performance by scoring 5 goals in the league until May 2015, when he returned to Jeju, and was ranked 5th in the scoring rankings. Was selected again. It was at the time that his skill was in its heyday, and there was high expectation that he would make his A-match debut this time, but an unexpected incident caught his feet.
Kang Soo-il got out of the national team because a positive reaction was found in the doping test conducted before the A match. Hair growth agents often contain prohibited substances such as steroids, so it is contraindicated for athletes. The Professional Football Federation punished Kang Soo-il with a suspension of 15 matches in the K-League, causing great annoyance to his team.
But the real final blow was drunk driving. In August of the same year, Kang Soo-il was caught by the police while driving while drunk while driving in Uijeongbu, causing a crash. The time when Kang Soo-il committed drunk driving was less than two weeks after the K-League’s disciplinary action was given due to doping excommunication.
Drunk driving itself is a serious crime, but Kang Soo-il also caused a contact accident that could lead to the injury of others. Became known. Even Kang Soo-il did not report the facts to the club properly, and went into sleep for a while.
In fact, when the doping excommunication, there were many sympathies that the public opinion of soccer fans focused on simple carelessness rather than intentionality, and that a certain degree of exclusion should be given. However, after drunk driving, the public opinion of the fans watching Kang Soo-il was completely frozen. The angry Jeju club decided to voluntarily withdraw from Kang Soo-il in just one day, and in fact, was expelled from the domestic soccer world. It was a rare case that a promising player, who had been mentioned until only a few months ago, and even embarked on the national team, fell in such an instant.
Kang Soo-il, who was blocked from becoming a soccer player in Korea, turned to overseas. In 2017, he continued his career as a player by signing a contract with Jaspagusatsu Gunma in the Japanese J2 League. From 2018 to 2019, he played in the Thai Premier League (1st division) Ratchaburi Mitr Pole, ranking first in the team’s scoring. did.
Kang Soo-il recently withdrew his voluntary withdrawal status under mutual agreement with the Jeju club, which was his primary team, and when the Korea Professional Football Federation announced this, the way to return to the Korean stage with a free contract (FA) status was frozen. It has been 5 years and 4 months since the notice of voluntary withdrawal was received on August 28, 2015. Kang Soo-il, who has entered his mid-30s, is showing his hope that he wants to continue his career on the domestic stage again.
Kang Soo-il’s return promotion has caused mixed evaluations among football fans. There is a sympathy that he had enough self-sufficiency since five years have passed, but it is not a problem that can be easily forgiven given his guilt.
The case of former major league baseball player Kang Jung-ho is comparable to Kang Soo-il. Kang Jung-ho was caught drunk driving in 2016 and caused great controversy. In the course of the police investigation, public opinion worsened as it was revealed that he had already committed drunk driving twice in the past.
At the time, Kang Jung-ho apologized, saying, “I will atone for baseball,” but it only worsened public opinion. Kang Jung-ho was finally sentenced to jail, and a few years later, he was eventually withdrawn from the major leagues, leading to the collapse of his smooth baseball life overnight. Last year, he tried to return to Korea through the heroes of the parent team, but despite the approval of the KBO, he was pushed back by public opinion and had to withdraw his return.
In the case of Kang Soo-il, the essence is not so different, except that he is not a highly recognized player as well as Kang Jeong-ho and that it was the first time he was caught drunk driving. Before the drunk driving was caught, he was already involved in another case (doping-sexual assault controversy), and he had an accident again at the point of self-restraint, even trying to cover up the case or attempting to transfer responsibility to the passengers, and made mistakes after the incident. Even the time to admit and apologize is similar to the time when we missed a long time. As we get older and our chances to play abroad are blocked, it is difficult to see a quiet attempt to return to Korea with pure intentions.
The perception of drinking-related accidents in Korea has changed a lot from the past. In the past, if you were good at exercising, other mistakes would be closed to some extent, but today, it is an era where character and attitude are more emphasized than athletes’ skills. Lee Chun-soo, who was once called an icon of various accidents and was randomly withdrawn, was only able to return after making an effort to show himself apologizing by visiting the stadium one by one to receive forgiveness from the K-League club and fans. Kang Soo-il has never shown that much effort and sincerity.
Even if Kang Soo-il tries to return to Korea, it is not known whether a K-League club will come out to accept players who are already not young and have a bad image. There is also a time for apology and atonement. Now that time has passed, how much can I relate to Kang Soo-il’s wish to continue his career in Korea again from the perspective of common-sense general fans?
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