| Daegu Sejinya celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal in the 4th minute of the 2021 ACL Round of 16 match between Daegu FC and Nagoya Grampus at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 14th. |
Daegu FC, who was trying to write a new team history in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL), suffered a comeback defeat by Japan’s Nagoya Grampus and suffered in the round of 16.
Daegu defeated Nagoya 2-4 in the 2021 ACL Round of 16 match held at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 14th (Korean time).
Daegu, which recorded 4 wins and 2 losses in the group stage held in Uzbekistan last June and July, advanced to the finals as 2nd place in the group over the pain of being eliminated from the preliminary round in the ACL where the team played for the first time two years ago. Domestic soccer fans are paying attention to whether Daegu, which is already writing a new history, can rise to the next level.
Nagoya, the opponent of the round of 16, is a team with a strong defensive organization. This season, Daegu also showed good performances in the K League 1, but in terms of objective performance, the evaluation that Nagoya was the best was dominant. Moreover, Daegu, who had to play the match at the opponent’s home stadium, threw away their possession and concentrated on counterattacking, which is their strength. In the first half, Daegu’s strategy seemed to be successful as two out of four shots on target were sucked into the goal.
Sejinya scored the first goal in the 4th minute of the first half. Jeong Seung-won, who received a pass from Lamas in the offensive work that started from the left sideline, drew the defense and gave it to the rushing Sejinya. Sejinya did not catch the ball and made a strong non-stop shot from mid-range to break the goal net.
Daegu could not stop the strike from Svierzog in the 12th minute and allowed an equalization, but in the 28th minute, Edgar headed back to 2-1 with a header goal from Jung Tae-wook, the last-man, to lead the cross.
However, the injured evil spirit shook the cod.
On that day, it rained a lot at Toyota Stadium, and defender Jeong Tae-wook slipped and his ankle completely turned. Daegu placed MF Hanbin Park at center back. Lee Jin-yong suffered a hamstring injury and Kim Jin-hyeok was excluded from the list due to cumulative group warnings. In the second half, Yong-rae Lee was substituted with Tsubasa due to an injury.
Daegu, whose defensive stability had collapsed, was defeated by Nagoya striker Svierchok, the only one. Daegu quickly allowed a comeback in the 18th and 20th minutes of the second half, when Svierzog scored two goals. The Daegu defense was hit several times by Svierchok’s reckless breakthrough and the pattern of holding on to his back and returning it with a light touch.
The rain-soaked stadium exhausted the Daegu players’ stamina faster. The Daegu players, who showed signs of exhaustion, had a sharp decrease in their activity level, and in the 33rd minute of the second half, Shinnosuke Nakatani allowed Shinnosuke Nagoya to concede a fourth goal from a corner kick.
In the remaining time, Daegu tried for a dramatic reversal by putting Ahn Yong-woo in place of Hwang Soon-min and Jang Seong-won instead of Jang Seong-won, but they could not remove Nagoya’s completely locked defense and lost 2-4.
After the match, Daegu coach Lee Byung-geun said, “Our team’s strength is a strong counterattack. We couldn’t solve the attack we thought was going to happen because of injuries and physical ups and downs.”
Correspondent Choi Si-woong jet123@yeongnam.com
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