Hwang In-beom, who finished his first season at Olympiacos, shared his honest thoughts about a new challenge.스포츠토토
Daejeon Hana Citizen lost 1-3 to Incheon United in the 16th round of the ‘Hana One Q K League 1 2023’ held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium at 4:30 pm on the 4th. Daejeon, which failed to earn points, fell to 6th place in the league (22 points). They are still positioned in the top 50%, but need a turnaround as they have no recent wins.
On this day, a significant guest visited the stadium. It was Hwang In-beom, the ‘son of Daejeon’. Hwang In-beom was from Chungnam Mechanical Technical High School, a youth team under Daejeon, and made his professional debut in 2015 (Daejeon Citizen at the time). He gained experience by playing for three years. Even after living in Asan Mugunghwa (military service), he returned to Daejeon and continued his activities.
After that, he knocked on the overseas stage. In the end, in January 2019, he succeeded in transferring to the Vancouver Whitecaps of the US Major League Soccer (MLS). And through Rubin Kazan (Russia), he is currently playing for Olympiacos (Greece). This season, he has played in various stages such as the Greek League, UEFA and Europa League (UEL), scoring 5 goals and 4 assists in 40 games.
Photo = Inbeom Hwang’s SNS
After the season ended, he returned to Korea prior to the A match in June and was spending his personal schedule. Hwang In-beom, who consistently showed his affection for Daejeon even after moving abroad, was commissioned by Daejeon City as an honorary ambassador for the Hometown Love Donation Program, and visited his hometown team after a long time. And he showed direct communication with the fans, such as taking on the role of a colleague (reading cheering) among the supporters.
I was able to meet Hwang In-beom briefly during the game. At the meeting with reporters, Hwang In-beom said, “It seems that so many fans came today. The feeling is new. It is a special feeling because I was with the team even when the team was having a hard time in the past. It was caught on the screen. It was nice to see you,” he said, soaked in memories.
At the end of the season, questions about where to go came up. According to the football statistics media ‘Transfer Markt’, Hwang In-beom’s contract is until 2025. However, he is attracting interest from several teams after showing good performances at Olympiacos. Candidates currently being discussed include Inter Milan (Italy) and Rangers (Scotland).
In response, Hwang In-beom said, “What I always thought about while transferring was that I could grow and set my goal for a team that wanted me. It didn’t matter which country or which league it was. I have an idea of wanting to take on the challenge without hesitation.”
However, “If the opportunity does not come, I will continue to play for Olympiacos, who gave me a lot of love. A match is coming, and if I continue to show good performances in the national team, I think another opportunity will come. It does not mean that I will leave Olympiacos unconditionally. . That’s not polite,” he said, even showing his team’s position.
In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hwang In-beom left Rubin Kazan and briefly worked for FC Seoul. After the 1-5 loss to Brazil in June of last year, he said, “Even if I couldn’t play, I felt that I had to compete with world-class players.”
The idea was still the same. Hwang In-beom said, “Looking back on last year, I played a lot of games, including the national team. Doing a lot helped me physically,” he said first.
Next, Hwang In-beom said, “Whether I stay at Olympiacos or take on a new challenge, all I have to do is play football at a high level. It was not perfect, but it was a season that laid the foundation for me to not be intimidated even if I played a higher level game like the Qatar World Cup.”