FC Anyang, who has been promoted to K League 1, is heading to FC Seoul... The competition is already drawing attention
FC Anyang, who has been promoted to K League 1, is heading to FC Seoul... The competition is already drawing attention
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FC Anyang, which will be promoted to professional soccer K League 1 next year, is sharpening its sword toward FC Seoul, which left Anyang soccer fans 20 years ago.
Anyang confirmed its first win and promotion of the K League 2 (division 2) in an away match (0-0 draw) against Bucheon FC held over the weekend.
The "rival structure" with K League 1's popular club Seoul is drawing attention as much as the "fourth of three games" story, which achieved "direct promotion" with this year's championship after advancing to the playoffs in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and taking the opportunity to promote.
Anyang is a civic team founded in 2013 with the tears of Anyang soccer fans who lost their "my soccer team."
Anyang soccer fans lost their team overnight as LG Chitas left Anyang in 2004 and was reborn as FC Seoul.
Anyang soccer fans were not daunted. The nine-year effort of the fans and the help of Anyang City were added to create the "Citizen Club" FC Anyang.
Middle-aged Anyang enthusiasts still remember the year 2004. Anyang will face FC Seoul at least three times in the K League 1 next year. It is a matchup that Anyang fans have been waiting for so long.
Earlier, the first match between Anyang and Seoul (Anyang 0-2 loss) was held in the round of 32 at the 2017 Korea Cup (then FA Cup), but the showdown in K League 1, the nation's top league, is bound to have different weight and meaning.
Anyang's winning press conference was held at the soccer center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 7th with coach Yoo Byung-hoon, captain Lee Chang-yong and Kim Dong-jin attending.
Coach Yoo, who has been in Anyang for a long time, is well aware of the meaning of the match against Seoul. "I am happy to have achieved the aspiration of the fans and all citizens to bring Seoul home in the first division," he said. "On the other hand, I feel an infinite sense of responsibility. I will play with the spirit of a challenger. I will win at least one game with the hearts of fans and citizens."
Seoul, which is a civic team and has special foreign strikers such as Anyang, Jesse Lingard, and Ilyuchenko, who are on the first stage for the first time, and even national team-level domestic players, has a big difference.
However, Anyang side defender Kim Dong-jin said, "The game is much awaited by fans. I will prepare well for winter training to win."
Captain Lee Chang-yong said, "I saw an article by Seoul coach Kim Ki-dong, and he didn't seem to care much about Anyang," adding, "We will not prepare for the match against Seoul with great importance."
Both Lee Chang-yong and Kim Dong-jin joined Anyang in 2022. Nevertheless, they were well aware of the meaning of Anyang promotion and the fans' unusual love for the team.
Lee Chang-yong said, "When I first come to Anyang, the front desk shows me a video of history, including how Anyang was founded and what has happened. Watching it made me feel weird. There is a 'power' in the video."
"First of all, I feel very strongly that I am loved by my fans. I wonder if (Kim) Dasol (who joined this year) also felt that way, and he wants to finish (the active role) in this team," he said.
Kim Dong-jin also continued to brag about his fans, saying, "As the team makes fans and the fans make the team again, fans feel close to the players," adding, "Now I feel like a family. Anyang's own culture where fans never swear at the players is also good." 메이저놀이터
"After Suwon Samsung in the second division, Anyang fans are passionate. And I think Anyang is better than Suwon fans at least for one voice," he said, adding, "Our fans are the ones who should be in the first division."