The Wall of Oil Money I Can't Cross...Gwangju's Beautiful Challenge Ends in the Quarterfinals
The Wall of Oil Money I Can't Cross...Gwangju's Beautiful Challenge Ends in the Quarterfinals
Blog Article
Gwangju FC's bid for the top spot in Asia ended in the quarterfinals.
Gwangju kneeled 0-7 against Al-Hilal in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Elite (ACLE) in the 2024-2025 season at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 26th (Korea time). He was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but returned with $1.8 million (about 2.6 billion won), five times the prize money of winning the K League 1.
The ACLE has changed its method this season. Once the league stage system was changed, East Asian and West Asian teams gathered from the quarterfinals to host the tournament. The venue was Saudi Arabia. It was actually Al-Hilal's home.
Gwangju also displayed strong performance. He was the only team in the K-League 1 to pass the league stage, and also produced a drama with Japanese J-League champion Vissel Kobe in the round of 16. He was most likely to be eliminated as he lost 0-2 at home, but rather, he scored three goals in away games to make a come-from-behind victory.
But al-Hilal's oil money was terrifying.
There are only two Saudi Arabian players in al-Hilal's starting lineup. The starting lineup is filled with players who used to play in European big leagues, including goalkeeper Yasin Bunu, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergei Milinkovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, João Cancelo, and Juven Neves. The names of the players in Gwangju were so different that their entire salaries were similar to those of Al-Hilal.
He lost the first goal six minutes into the first half. Milinkovic scored a header from a corner kick. He lost goals consecutively from Marcus Leónardo in the 25th minute of the first half and Salim Dausari in the 33rd minute of the first half. 안전놀이터
Gwangju confidently countered. They did not lower their defense line and launched offensive. However, they lost consecutive points to Mitrovic in the 10th minute of the second half, Maukong in the 34th minute of the second half, Nasser Dausari in the 39th minute of the second half, and Abdullah Hamdan in the 43rd minute of the second half.