At 18:00 on July 17th, the quarterfinals of the K League Cup will see Pohang Steelers face off against FC Seoul.
In terms of format, this round is a one-off match to determine the winner, with the next round adopting a home-and-away system. The final will revert back to a single-match decider.
The home team, Pohang Steelers, played away against Jeju United over the weekend. In order to minimize injury risks, they made significant squad rotations for that game, with 2003-born youngster Kim Dong-jin starting, as well as long-absent Jo Sung-joon and Asproftamidis getting rare starts. Another 2003-born youngster, Lee Dong-hyup, even made his professional debut. Despite the major rotation, they ultimately lost 1-2 away to Jeju United. Returning to their home turf, Pohang Steelers are expected to field their full-strength lineup.
Manager Park Tae-ha, who had been sidelined for the last two matches, is finally back from suspension and will be able to command from the sidelines. Currently, key midfielder Kim Jong-yu is injured and unable to play. Newly signed Olympic South Korean youngster An Jae-jun is also recovering from an injury.
The visiting team, FC Seoul, were defeated by Ulsan HD in stoppage time in their last match away from home. They fielded their full-strength squad but not only lost the match, but also lost their captain, Lingard. Since Lingard was appointed captain, the locker room atmosphere at Seoul has been nearly the best it’s been in recent years, and their ranking has been steadily climbing. In the previous match, Lingard proactively asked to be substituted off due to suspected muscle strain. Post-match, manager Kim Ki-dong stated, “We cannot confirm the specifics of the injury yet. There seems to be an issue with the hamstring that requires further examination.” Even if the injury is not serious, given the tight schedule, manager Kim Ki-dong might save Lingard for use in the home match.
In terms of personnel, former South Korean international Ki Sung-yueng continues to be sidelined due to injury. William, who has recently been excluded from the starting lineup due to poor physical condition, may have a chance to make the squad.
Worth noting is that this match is also being called the “Kim Ki-dong Derby.” Kim Ki-dong, who led Pohang Steelers to win this tournament last season, moved to FC Seoul this season and finally got Seoul back on track after 20 rounds of league play, with quite good form recently. Facing his former club Pohang, whom he knows inside out, Kim Ki-dong will pull out all the stops.
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