There were many tearful faces at Suwon Sports Complex on Sept. 9, the second leg of the promotion playoffs (PO), the “real last game” of the 2023 season of professional soccer’s K League.Kim Do-gyun, the head coach of Suwon FC, who dramatically succeeded in staying in the K League 1, shed tears as soon as the game ended, and the eyes of fans and players of K League 2 Busan I-Park, who had been looking forward to returning to the first division after four years, were also reddened by the upset loss.One player had already shown tears during the game, Suwon FC’s ‘Captain’ Lee Young-jae.He burst into tears after scoring a goal in the 40th minute of the second leg to make the total score of the first and second legs 3-3.After losing the first match 1-2 and conceding again in the first half of the second match, Suwon FC fought back with a goal by Kim Hyun in the 33rd minute, and Lee Young-jae’s goal dramatically balanced the score.”When I scored the goal, I couldn’t help but cry as the hard memories passed by,” Lee said after the game.
“I returned to Suwon FC this year after serving in the military with Gimcheon Sangmu and took over as captain,” he said. “I came back with the expectations of the fans, but I was injured as soon as I arrived and didn’t show many good performances. I had a lot of responsibility as captain, but the results didn’t go my way, so it was a tough season,” he said, adding, “I was emotional as all that went by.””I wanted to run to my teammates, but I didn’t have the strength to do it, so I sat back,” Lee said, adding, “I was happy that I was able to score a goal when the team needed it.” Lee smiled.He also shone at crucial times after scoring a free-kick in the final round of the regular season against Jeju United to rescue the team from the brink of relegation with a 1-1 draw, and when asked how much of a 스포츠토토존 stake he thinks he has in staying, he replied, “30 percent.