Gyeongnam FC Jo Hyang-gi came out of a long tunnel that seemed endless. After the ambitious opening game, he had to spend about six months outside the stadium due to injury.
Jo Hyang-gi got the opportunity to make his first start of the season in Gyeongnam’s Hana One Q K League 2 2023 32nd round away match against FC Anyang held at Anyang Sports Complex at 7 pm on the 20th. In the meantime, he devoted himself to rehabilitation due to a hamstring injury, and only began to play as a substitute at the end of August.
In his return match as a starter, Jo Hyang-gi scored an equalizer, giving the team a valuable point. In an interview after the game, he said, “I haven’t been able to play much for six months due to injury. I tried to do what the coach wanted during training, and it came out today. I’m very disappointed with the result, but personally, I think it’s good because I think I prepared well. “I did it,” he said.
Jo Hyang-gi’s score was not confirmed for a while after안전놀이터 a VAR review. He had to worry about whether it was a foul in the penalty area or not. “I desperately hoped it would be a goal. I thought there had been a foul. All I could think was that it would be a goal. I thought we had to win no matter what. The goal was awarded anyway, and I tried to keep winning.”
Jo Hyang-gi transferred from Gimpo FC to Gyeongnam ahead of this season. He is a player who showed good performance in K League 2, so Gyeongnam also had high expectations.
After suffering a serious injury, he had moments of mental turmoil, but he focused on getting in shape and waiting for the day to come back. He said, “I prepared for the season with the mindset that I had to show a good performance after playing in the first game. As soon as I played in the first game, I suffered a hamstring injury while training the day before I played in the next game. I rested for about a month and did rehabilitation, but after working out for about two months, the same thing happened again. “The area recurred. I only did ball training for about 6 months in total. It was very difficult mentally and physically,” he confessed.
He then recalled his past days, saying, “I did a lot of strengthening exercises to prevent it from happening again. At the same time, I did 2nd and 3rd group artificial turf exercises behind me. I silently prepared as hard as I could to raise my body there as well. I spent 6 months like that.”
Jo Hyang-gi, who expected to return in the summer, was able to start the game a little later. He said, “I thought it would be good to give him a chance when he was about 4 months old and wanted to ask the director,” but he soon cool-headedly judged his condition.
“Even when I looked at myself, I didn’t think my body was 100%. I thought I should prepare a little more, and I thought I was in really good shape this time, and at that time, I was appointed as a starter. “I was confident that I was ready in terms of physical condition and stamina. I think I prepared well,” he said, expressing his satisfaction with the Anyang match, which was played in perfect condition.
In the long-awaited return to the starting lineup, Jo Hyang-gi was substituted in the 31st minute of the second half. He said that although he played for over 70 minutes, he still had some regrets. He wanted to run more. He said, “I felt cramps in my calves and front thighs after not playing for a long time. To be honest, I didn’t want to go out, but I think the coach decided that it would be better to be replaced if I was going to play 60%. I have no regrets at all, and I will prepare well for the next game.” He promised to do better in the game.