Gangwon FC is aiming to advance to the quarterfinals of the Asian Club Grand Prix for the first time in club history.
Gangwon-do will face Japan’s Machida Zelvia (Japan) in the first round of the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) at Songam Sports Town, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do on March 2 at 7 p.m.
Gangwon Province recorded 2 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses (9 points) in 8 ACLE League stage games this season. Gangwon Province placed 8th out of 12 teams in ACLE League Stage A (East Asia) and successfully advanced to the Round of 16. In the ACLE league stage, 1st to 8th place from Groups A and B will participate in the tournament.
Gangwon-do coach Jeong Kyung-ho said at a pre-match press conference at Songam Sports Town in Chuncheon at 2:10 p.m. on the 1st, “We achieved our big goal of advancing to the final 16 of the ACLE for the first time in club history.”
Coach Chung continued, “However, we are not satisfied. We are looking ahead to the quarterfinals. Machida is not a comfortable team. Machida is the top team in the ACLE league stage, and we were eighth. There is a difference, but we played against them in the league stage, so we know the good and bad points, so we will definitely get a good result at home. We want to prepare well until the end so that we can go into the away game in a good mood.”
Lee Yoo-hyun, who attended the press conference as a member of the Gangwon-do national team, also vowed to win.
Lee Yoo-hyun said, “As the coach said, our goal is to advance to the quarterfinals,” and added, “This is a different tournament than a league match, so we want to prepare well and bring about a result that is different from the ACLE League stage.”
“We will play against Machida at home again this time. I would like to make up for the shortcomings from last time and show a good performance,” he vowed.
Lee Yoo-hyun also expressed his thoughts on the Japanese team, which has risen from 1st to 3rd place in ACLE League Stage A Group this season. In this season’s ACLE League Stage Group A, Machida (1st place), Vissel Kobe (2nd place), and Sanfrecce Hiroshima (3rd place) dominated the top spots.
Lee Yoo-hyun said, “We played against all the Japanese teams that participated in this season’s ACLE. All three teams had different team colors. If you look at each player individually, they had a lot of quality. We maximized each individual’s ability according to the direction the coach was pursuing. I felt like they were able to adapt to the situation very well inside the stadium. They put a lot of pressure on us and their stable performance was impressive. When we play against a Japanese team, it’s important not to get pushed into a power struggle.” You need the stamina to fight back from beginning to end. We have to prepare well.”
Ebara played against Machida in the ACLE League stage this season. The match was held at Songam Sports Town in Chuncheon on November 25th last year.
At that time, Gangwon Province was weak, scoring three goals in the first half alone. Park Ho-young scored a follow-up goal in the 10th minute of the second half when Gangwon Province was trailing 0-3, but they could not catch up.
Coach Chung said the following while looking back on that day’s game.
“At that time, he scored three goals in the first half alone. His performance returned in the second half, but it was difficult to catch up. Looking back at the game that day, we lacked enough defense against height. He handed it over to Oh Se-hoon, but he couldn’t control the incoming ball. Oh Se-hoon transferred after last season. We may have been lucky that we did that, but we have a new Japanese striker who is over 190cm tall.We must never let our guard down.Japanese teams are really good at pressing forward.We tend to struggle in that area, but we have faith in our players and will work hard to resolve them. ”
Coach Chung went on to point out the strong elements of the Japanese team.
Coach Chung said, “The fundamentals are really solid,” and “It’s great that they continued to stick to the basics throughout the game.”
“Japanese players grow systematically from a young age. This seems to be a big strength for them once they enter the workforce. Japanese players never miss the basics. I think they become fearful because direction is added to the basics. In the past, South Korea was better than Japan physically as well. It’s different now. They’re behind Japan not only in the strength of pressure, but also physically. When the Japanese team is strong, it’s important to stand up without backing down.”
[Chuncheon = Lee Geun-seung, MK Sports Reporter]