Will Hong Myung-bo’s Ulsan lead the world stage?

Ulsan Hyundai, a professional football player who has reached the top of the Asian Champions League, will challenge the world. I will be representing Asia in the International Football Federation (FIFA) Club World Cup, which opens on the 4th of next month. Continental champions and real swords are played.

The FIFA Club World Cup is a competition in which the winning team from six continents and the winning team from the host country compete every year. Initially, it was scheduled to be held in December of last year, but it was delayed by two months in the aftermath of the Corona 19 pandemic. As in the Asian Champions League at the end of last year, Qatar will hold the tournament in’Bubble’, which is blocked from outside to prevent coronavirus. During the event, all officials are allowed to come and go only to the accommodation, training ground, and stadium.

Ulsan will go to the opening game of the tournament held at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar at 11 pm on the 4th of next month. The opponent is North and Central American champion Tigres UANL (Mexico). Originally, on the 1st of next month, Oceania champion Auckland City (New Zealand) and host country UAE Stars League champion Al Duhail were scheduled to play the opening game. As Auckland was absent due to Corona 19, Ulsan became the main character of the opening game.

Ulsan, who conducted field training in Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, will depart for Qatar from Gimhae Airport in Busan on the 29th with a charter flight provided by FIFA. In the previous Corona 19 test, all of the squads were negative.

The opening game is’Tiger Derby’. Both Ulsan and Tigres use tigers as their mascots. Both team emblems also featured tigers. Tigres is the Spanish word for tigers. In terms of players, Tigres is an evaluation. According to Transfermarkt, a media specializing in soccer player transfers, the transfer market value of the Ulsan team is 18.58 million euros (25 billion won). Tigres is more than three times that of 6.15 million euros (80 billion won).

The composition of Ulsan players has also changed a lot. This winter, several veterans such as Lee Geun-ho (36, Daegu) and Park Ju-ho (34, Suwon FC) left the team. Among the core members, players in rehabilitation such as Lee Cheong-yong (33), Go Myung-jin (33), Lee Dong-gyeong (23), and Hong Chul (31) were also missing from the entry. New players such as Shin Hyeong-min (35) and Lee Dong-jun (24) have not yet reached a long time.

Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo (52) said in a telephone interview before leaving the country, “I have many memories of having a hard time meeting Mexico in the national team during my active career. Tigres is Mexico’s strongest team and a club representing North and Central America. It is expected that the game is not easy, but our players also prepared hard. “You can tell which tiger’s teeth and claws are sharp by bumping into it.”

If Ulsan grabs Tigres and climbs up, the semi-finals will be played at Al Rayyan’s Education City Stadium at 3 am on the 8th of next month. There is a high possibility of meeting the South American champion. The Libertadores final, a South American club competition, will be held on the 31st due to postponement due to Corona 19. In the final, Brazil’s two prestigious clubs Santos and Paumeiras advanced.

The finals will be held on the 12th of next month at the same location as the semi-finals. European champion Bayern Munich is likely to take the place of one of the two teams in the’last match’. Munich is full of star players, including last year’s FIFA Player of the Year Robert Lewandowski (33). This is the true name of the tournament, or the strongest team in the world. Every time he wins and goes up to the next round, his team’s income jumps. Ulsan has already secured 1 million dollars (1.1 billion won), the lowest (6th place) prize. The prize money will increase to $2 million (2.2 billion won) in the semi-finals and $4 million (4.4 billion won) in the final. The winning team will win 5 million dollars (5.5 billion won) in prize money with the honor of being’the best soccer club in the world’.

Reporter Song Ji-hoon [email protected]