"It was motivation."
November 25th, 2023
"It's over,"
Park Seung-ho is a "newbie" who joined Incheon this season. Even though he was a freshman when he was a student at Dankook University, he quickly took the main spot with his fierce scoring ability. He also won the Blue Dragon Flag's top scorer as a member of Yongin City Football Center Deokyoung U-18 in 2021, giving the team the championship. It was "Riddy Cotyledons".
After joining the professional league, it was not smooth. First of all, there were few chances to play. Perhaps it is natural that a rookie player cannot play professionally, but he faced another bad news. In May, he was injured in the group stage against Honduras at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina. He returned home during the tournament due to a non-fracture of his right ankle and ligament damage, and had to focus on surgery and rehabilitation. It was more painful because it was against Honduras, which scored the equalizer.
However, this period came to Park Seung-ho as "motivation" rather than "frustration." Park Seung-ho said, "The injury helped me in my soccer life. It motivated me to be able to do it. In fact, I heard a lot that I couldn't make it when I was injured. There was also a story that it was over, but it rather made me stand tall," he said.
The teammates who made the semi-final myth in the national team began to settle one by one. Bae Joon-ho moved to Stoke City in the English Professional Football Championship (second division), and Kim Ji-soo moved to Brentford. Park Seung-ho said, "Rather than coming up as a stimulus, I thought, 'Now I just need to do well.' I didn't care and tried to prepare it," he said.
Park Seung-ho, who recovered after three months, got a chance to play little by little. Starting with a start against Suwon Samsung in September, he gradually stepped on the ground and even scored his "debut goal" in the 37th round match against Ulsan Hyundai on the 24th. Park Seung-ho scored the goal by connecting Choi Woo-jin's cross from the side of the left penalty box with a non-stop volley in the 5th minute of the second half, which was flowing 0-0.
Park Seung-ho said, "I tried not to be intimidated by the idea that I was the best. There was also a play in which he hit a grounder cross with Woo-jin during training, and he talked about it before entering the second half. I think that part led to the goal," he smiled.
Incheon coach Cho Sung-hwan also raised his thumb on Park Seung-ho's Mental. Coach Cho said, "If I work hard, I definitely have the mental and ability to look at the A national team in the future. I think I can overcome the painful ordeal and go up to a good position," he said.
Park Seung-ho also responded. "First of all, it's not easy to give him a chance to play in the game, but he called me even though I was a rookie. It's more memorable because it's my first professional director. In addition, while learning the director's style, his skills and mental skills seem to grow. I trust you a lot and rely on you," he said.
In addition to Park Seung-ho, Incheon is being given the opportunity to play "young resources" at the end of the season. The representative game is against Gwangju FC on the 28th of last month. At that time, most of Incheon's main players were excluded due to injuries such as Lee Myung-joo, Shin Jin-ho, Mugosa, Gerso, and Hernandez or the rotation of the FA Cup. With seven U-22 volunteers, he produced a "great change" that caught Gwangju 2-0 with "full power."
The same goes for this day. Ulsan also operated the rotation, but young guns such as Park Seung-ho, Choi Woo-jin, and Hong Si-hoo started and played hard, driving the 3-1 victory. Park Seung-ho said, "As much as they get the opportunity, it is young players who play that can inspire the team. Because he helps and follows well, he can show good performance in a big game. Our team has been preparing well with the idea that the whole team is A team, not A (main game) and B (non-main game) teams."
"Originally, the goal was to have three to four offensive points in 15 games." "I didn't get a chance due to my injury, but I will try to build up attack points one by one until the end," he said.