Hwang Ui-jo writes his first hat-trick on the French stage and holds up three fingers to celebrate the goal. [AFP=연합뉴스]
“Perfect game.”
France 24 expressed the performance of Hwang Ui-jo (30, Girondaeng Bordeaux), who made his first hat-trick since advancing to French professional soccer League 1 on the 24th (Korean time) and set a new record for the most goals in Asian history. Hwang Ui-Jo scored three goals against Strasbourg in the 22nd round of Ligue 1 in the 2021-22 season that ended at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France that day.
Hwang Ui-jo, who scored his 7th, 8th, and 9th goals in 40 days after scoring his 6th goal against Troyes on the 13th of last month, rose to the tie for 8th in scoring at once. He narrowed the gap to two goals with Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, 11 goals), a world-class superstar and top scorer in the league last season. Mbappe is tied for third place. The lead was Bisam Ben Yeder (AS Monaco) with 13 goals. France’s Réquiffe praised his fierce goal sense, saying, “Hwang Ui-jo, who scored a hat-trick, is a Bordeaux hero.”
‘The whole body is a weapon’ Hwang Ui-jo records after entering France
Hwang Ui-jo achieved a hat-trick for the first time after stepping on the French stage in the 2019-20 season. It is the first time in three seasons after changing to a Bordeaux uniform at Gamba Osaka (Japan) in July 2019. Hwang Ui-jo also scored 27 goals (76 matches) in his league 1 career, breaking the record for most goals in French league history by an Asian player held by Park Joo-young (37, Ulsan Hyundai). Joo-Young Park scored 25 league goals (91 matches) for AS Monaco in three seasons starting from 2008-09.
Hwang Ui-jo is expected to break various records related to goalscoring by Koreans in League 1 in the future. If he scores four more goals, he overtakes Park Joo-young and sets a new record for the most goals scored in a season in Korean league 1. With 12 goals last season, he was on par with Park Joo-young (2010-11 season). If he adds one goal, he also sets a double-digit scoring record for two consecutive seasons.
![Hwang Ui-jo, who scored his 27th league goal, set the record for the most goals scored by an Asian player in the French league, beating Park Joo-young. [AFP=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202201/25/htm_2022012591751793154.jpg?w=800&ssl=1)
Hwang Ui-jo, who scored his 27th league goal, set the record for the most goals scored by an Asian player in the French league, beating Park Joo-young. [AFP=연합뉴스]
Hwang Ui-jo, who started as the front-line striker, scored the first goal with a calm right-footed shot from the goal area in the 17th minute of the first half. In the 39th minute of the first half, after passing a defender from the right side of the penalty box, he scored an additional goal with an exquisite left footed kick. In the 45th minute of the second half, he dribbled the ball to the penalty arc and completed a hat-trick with a medium-range cannon like a cannon ball. Hwang Ui-jo held his first hat-trick celebration with three fingers raised. Bordeaux (20 points), who won 4-3, escaped from a three-game losing streak. The ranking rose two steps from 19th to 17th, the relegation zone.
Whoscore.com, a soccer statistics site, gave Hwang Ui-jo a score of 9.5, the highest of both teams. Bordeaux manager Vladimir Petkovich said: “Hwang Ui-jo’s performance was perfect. (by scoring) saved the team from crises several times. “I’m glad he’s regained his sense of goal after he’s been sluggish in the last few games.” Hwang Ui-jo said, “It was a great match with strong mental strength. I hope to continue this momentum. I am grateful to my colleagues,” he said.
It is good news for the Korean national team led by coach Paulo Bento that Hwang Ui-jo broke the silence and raised his sense of goal. Bentuho, ahead of two consecutive matches in the Middle East in the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian final qualifiers, Heung-Min Son (Tottenham) and Hee-Chan Hwang (Wolverhampton) are out with injuries. After completing the training in Turkey, the national team will move to Lebanon on the 25th and play the 7th round of the World Cup final qualifier against Lebanon on the 27th. After that, they will move to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where they will play their 8th game against Syria on the 1st of next month. Hwang Eui-jo said, “Thank you to the fans who supported me. I will show a good image on the national team as well.”
Reporter Pi Joo-young akapj@joongang.co.kr
