21 years old Fullback with Military Service Hwang Jae-won
‘21-year-old fullback with military service’ Hwang Jae-won “Every player’s dream is Europe, someday I too”
Presence as a next-generation player through Hangzhou AG... “Being able to relax on a big stage is an income.”
The player whose stock price soared the most at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, where the "young blood" of Korean soccer such as Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) and Jung Woo-young (Stuttgart) could be seen, is fullback Hwang Jae-won of Daegu FC in K League 1.
He had already grown into a key player in Daegu and was slowly becoming known. Born in 2002, he played an active role as a starting player even though he was the youngest member of "Hwangseonhongho", and made his presence known even more widely through his vigorous activity and active participation in attacks.
In particular, in the final against Japan, he helped Jeong Woo-young"s header equalize with an accurate cross in the 27th minute of the first half when Korea was trailing, and in the 11th minute of the second half, when Jo Young-wook (Gimcheon) scored the comeback final goal, he connected the ball to Jeong Woo-young between two Japanese players, setting the stage for the goal.
It played a role in laying down.
With the emergence of a next-generation national team-level fullback who showed off his skills regardless of offense and defense and even solved the military service issue with a gold medal, expectations for "advance to Europe" are also rising early.
Hwang Jae-won, who met with Yonhap News at DGB Daegu Bank Park on the 21st when the first game of the K League 1 final round against Jeonbuk Hyundai (Daegu lost 1-2) said, “I am grateful to receive a lot of love,” and added, “In fact, the team as a whole did well in the Asian Games.
Well done, there aren"t many things I did well.
“There were times when I lost goals due to my own mistakes, and it wasn’t 100% perfect,” he said.
Still, he said, "I was grateful just to participate in the competition representing Korea, and I felt a sense of responsibility.
I never knew when I would experience such a big competition again, so I always went in with the mindset of doing it without regrets."
“After playing on the stage, I feel like I have more confidence to overcome the pressure of being on a big stage with a lot of spectators,” he said.
He did not hide his "dream" about advancing to Europe, which became a hot topic after his performance in the Asian Games.
He said, “Europe is a stage that every soccer player wants to play on,” and “I also always have a dream of learning there.”
The Hangzhou Asian Games team included many players who played in Europe, including Lee Kang-in and Jung Woo-young, so it was also an opportunity for Hwang Jae-won to gain "indirect experience".
Jaewon Hwang said, “After hearing from my colleagues, they said that Europe is definitely very different from Korea.
Of course, there is a lot to learn in Korea, but they said that there are things that can be experienced and learned in Europe,” and added, “I heard a lot of positive things.”
However, he was completely faithful to the ‘present’.
Hwang Jae-won said, "I belong to Daegu, so my job is to show this team that we can continue to win.
I believe that if I work hard, an opportunity will come someday.
It"s not something I"m in a hurry to do, and I want to do my best in Daegu."
I said, give me strength.
He added, "I"m still lacking and have a lot of areas to improve," adding, "I"m a defender, so I need to improve my defensive skills a lot, and I want to improve my crossing accuracy."
In the sold-out Jeonbuk game with over 12,000 people in attendance, Daegu"s home fans congratulated him on winning the gold medal and welcomed his return by holding up a banner saying "Welcome back Hwang Jae-won" when Hwang Jae-won was substituted for Hong-cheol at the start of the second half.
Even on his way home from work after the game, he received louder cheers and requests for autographs than anyone else, making him realize his greatly increased interest and popularity.
Hwang Jae-won said, “The home fans came to support us in the first game of the final round, but it is disappointing that we could not repay them with a victory.”
He added, “I definitely want to give them a win in the next game, and we will participate in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) for the rest of the season.”
He emphasized, “We will continue to challenge for the right to participate.”