“I played hard without regret.”
Hong Chul (32, Daegu FC) finished the second World Cup in his life. He was at the center of the ‘Miracle in Kazan’ four years ago in Russia. He experienced the miracle of catching the world number 1 Germany at the time. In the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he was at the scene of Korea’s advance to the round of 16.
In a recent interview with Sports Chosun, he said, “I was grateful that the fans came out (when I arrived at the airport). Not only (Son) Heung-min, who was the captain, but also my brothers led the team well. The coach said, “Korea has advanced to the World Cup 10 times in a row. However, except for the tournament held in Korea in 2002, it has only reached the round of 16 once. I’m proud of you guys (who made it to the round of 16 again).” He said, ‘You can do it’. Those words gave me great strength.”
Hong Chul played a total of three matches in two World Cups. During the World Cup in Russia, he came on as a substitute in the second match against Mexico. He started in the final game against Germany and helped the team win 2-0. In this tournament, he kept the bench throughout the group stage. I stepped on the ground in the second half of the round of 16 against Brazil. The time given to him at the World Cup was not much.
He said, “A player always wants to play, but (than greed to participate), the desire for Korea to do well was bigger. I cheered hard on the bench. I was a member of the national team. I was never number one. I was always the second or third option. I was in a position to follow. That said, I have never been unprepared.” He made his A-match debut in February 2011 in a friendly match against Turkey. 토토
Like his promise, Hong Chul did his best in the given time. He did his part in the 45th minute against Brazil. He said, “In fact, the entire stadium was like Brazil’s home stadium. 80% of it looked like Brazilian fans. But even in that situation, there were fans who cheered hard for our country. It was touching. I was really grateful. When I was put in, it was a situation where I was pushed 0-4. I played hard without regret. It was difficult to stop Rafinha (FC Barcelona).
After the World Cup, Hong Cheol runs again after a short break. We will prepare for the 2023 season, starting with battery training in the southern seas in January next year. He said, “It seems that the soccer boom starts and ends very briefly after major tournaments are over. I hope it doesn’t stop. I hope you love the K-League a lot. Daegu fans cheered me a lot with a message saying that they are the club’s only national team member.