“It was a goal I’ve been waiting for for a long time, and a lot of things went through my mind.”
Hwang Ui-jo (Norwich City), who spoke to reporters in the joint press area shortly after the 4-0 victory over Tunisia in the October A Test at the Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, also explained why he had to shake his head for a moment after scoring the goal.
Hwang came off the bench in the 22nd minute of the second half, and as soon as he stepped on the field, he moved to create as many chances as he could. With a three-goal lead already in the bag and a win in sight for Klinsmann’s team, Hwang rattled the net in the second half of stoppage time when Park Yong-woo (Ulsan Hyundai) cut in a long pass from the opposition and, after a quick burst forward, slotted an exquisite shot between the goalkeeper’s legs.
Hwang’s 18th goal of his A-League career saw him surpass Lee Dong-hwan (retired), and he stretched his arms out to the side in a bird-like celebration to show his joy. He was congratulated by his teammates afterward, a momentary surge of emotion that left the emotionally drained and exhausted Hwang unable to lift his head from the ground.
“Personally, I wanted to score a lot, and it was a long-awaited goal, so I felt good, but at the same time, I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind,” Hwang said, adding, “I think I was trying to stay focused. It was a short period of time, but my teammates were working really hard, so we had a lot of space and we had a lot of chances, and I tried to stay focused when they came.”
“I think the main thing was to prepare the players for what they can do. We tried to do what we trained for and make a lot of the plays we wanted to make,” he added, “and I think it ended up being a good result.”
It was the first goal in four months for Hwang, who scored against El Salvador during the A-Match trials in June. He is tied for the most goals (2) with Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) since the inception of the Klinsmann Cup.스포츠토토
“As a striker, I always have the idea that I need to score goals. I’ve been trying and studying a lot about how to score goals and where I need to improve,” he said. “When I go back to England, I’ll have to work even harder to keep getting playing time at my club so that I can continue to show good form and produce good results.”
When asked about the competition for the starting striker spot on the Klinsmann, Hwang said, “I don’t think it’s really a competition, it’s more like we’re trying to showcase each other’s strengths because they’re very distinct. “The coach wants to play a lot of straightforward soccer, and I think we learn a lot from each other’s strengths. He wants the players to be as aggressive as possible, and he wants the ball to be in the attacking third, so the forwards try to keep it straight and fight for the ball when it comes forward.”
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