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[이데일리 스타in 이석무 기자] Hwang Eui-jo (29, Bordeaux), the signboard goalkeeper of the Korean national soccer team, is shining brilliantly in the European Big League. In the second season of entering the European stage, he scored double digits in the season and has established himself as a top striker.
Hwang Eui-jo scored a penalty kick goal in the first half of the 1st half, behind by 1-3 in the home game of the 31st round of the 2020-21 French Liguen (1st Division) against Strasbourg at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France on the 4th (local time).
Team-mate Laurent Koscielny induces a foul on the opponent’s defender for a penalty. Coach Jean-Louis Gassé Bordeaux ordered Hwang Eui-jo to take a penalty kick. This was the first time Hwang Eui-jo joined Bordeaux and went on to become a penalty kicker.
Hwang Eui-jo, who stole the timing of the opposing goalkeeper with a small shot, pierced the left corner of the goal with a right-footed shot. The goalkeeper reads the direction, but couldn’t keep up with the speed of the ball.
The match was defeated by 2-3, but it was a significant goal for Hwang Eui-jo. This goal was Hwang’s 10th goal in the season. After signing with Bordeaux in July 2019, he scored double digits in one season in less than two years. In addition, he also scored three consecutive goals (4 goals) in recent league games.
The French League is one of the top five leagues in the world, along with the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish Primera Liga, and Italian Serie A. Neymar, Killian Mbafe. A number of world-class stars such as Angel Dimaria (above Paris Saint-Germain) are active.
Having scored a double-digit goal in Liguen means that he has grown into a globally recognized striker. Only 14 players have scored more than 10 goals in the league this season.
Hwang Eui-jo is the fourth ever Korean player to score double-digit goals in one season in the world’s top five big leagues, following Cha Bum-geun (Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Germany), Joo-young Park (AS Monaco, France), and Heung-min Son (Hamburg, Leverkusen, England Tottenham). .
It is not wrong to say that Hwang Eui-jo’s actions are dramatic. Ahead of the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in July 2018, when coach Kim Hak-beom selected Hwang Eui-jo as a wild card with Son Heung-min and Jo Hyun-woo, the voice of criticism was high both inside and outside the soccer world.
There was a controversy over the’recruitment of a network’ that director Kim Hak-beom chose to give Hwang Ui-jo an opportunity to benefit from military service. There was even a post on the Cheong Wa Dae website’s national petition bulletin board stating, “Exit Hwang Eui-jo from the Asian Games national team”.
However, Hwang Eui-jo took the lead in winning Korea’s gold medal by scoring 9 goals in 7 games in the Asian Games. The voice of concern and criticism around him disappeared. After the Asian Games were over, coach Paulo Bento of the A national team also selected Hwang Eui-jo as the built-in striker for the national team.
Hwang Eui-jo achieved his dream of entering Europe by signing a four-year contract with Bordeaux in July 2019, taking advantage of his performance in the Asian Games and national team.
However, Hwang Eui-jo encountered an unexpected obstacle in Bordeaux. Instead of the position he was most confident of, he had to play in a different position. Coach Paulo Soja, who led Bordeaux last season, used Hwang Eui-jo as a winger or shadow striker rather than a front-line striker. It was because of the prejudice that Asian players have good speed and play a lot, but their goal-determination and struggles are weak. Even though I didn’t like to use my left foot, there were times when I went to the right side.
As a result, it was a rather strange situation in which the team played as a winger and when he came to the national team, he played the front-line striker. Hwang Eui-jo did his part even when wearing clothes that did not fit his body. He scored 6 goals and 2 assists in the first season and was recognized as the team’s key starter.
The command tower was changed to Gase manager this season, but Hwang Eui-jo’s situation has not changed. Coach Gase also used Hwang Eui-jo as a winger on the left side. Hwang Eui-joro, who focused on training the front-line striker during the off-season, was inevitably disappointed. Even at the beginning of the season, he was pushed out of the main game and didn’t even get a lot of opportunities to play.
However, Hwang Eui-jo opened his way. Hwang Eui-jo, who had struggled for two to three months after the start of the season, definitely survived as time passed. As a winger, he showed sharp appearance and accumulated attack points, and coach Gase took full advantage of it as a front-line striker from last December.
Coach Gase said, “If you play in the front line, the destructive power of the attack increases, and if you move to the side, it gives power to the attack.”
Hwang Ui-jo flew in earnest while playing in earnest at his place. In 2021 alone, he played in 14 games and scored 8 goals. In terms of the same period alone, it is tied for first place in the league with top-class striker Mbafe in the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that Hwang Eui-jo’s heyday begins now. Hwang Eui-jo still has two years of contract with Bordeaux. However, with double-digit scoring this season, his share price is expected to increase further. It is said that several teams are already interested in Hwang Eui-jo. If the current good trend continues, it is worth aiming for higher goals.