‘New alcohol in a new unit, a new captain in a new season.’
K-League 1 clubs, which are in the midst of preparing for the 2023 season, are announcing captains to represent their squads. The keyword is ‘change’. None of the 12 teams from the winning team, Ulsan Hyundai, to the promoted team, Gwangju Daejeon Hana, did not change their manager, but the team atmosphere was renewed through the replacement of the captain. 스포츠토토
As of the 16th, six teams, half of them, announced the appointment of a new captain. After 17 years of winning through the 2022 season, Ulsan appointed national center back Jung Seung-hyun as its new captain. Park Yong-woo, Lee Myung-jae, and Lee Gyu-seong serve as vice-captains and assist Jung Seung-hyun. Expectations were placed on ‘young leadership’. Pohang appointed captain Kim Seung-dae and vice-captain Ha Chang-rae, and Incheon appointed captain Oh Ban-seok and vice-captain Lee Myeong-ju. Lee Ki-je became the captain for the first time in six years after joining Suwon Samsung. Vice-captain Ko Seung-beom assists Lee Ki-je. Yoon Bit-garam, who transferred from Jeju to Suwon FC this winter, is the captain with an exceptional status as a transfer student. Lee Seung-woo and Jeong Jae-yong are appointed as vice-captains and face each other with Yoon Bit-garam.
Jeju Island has changed. Choi Young-joon wears the armband as the new captain, and veterans Koo Ja-cheol, Kim Oh-gyu, Jeong Un, Ahn Hyun-beom, and Kim Dong-joon form the captaincy team. There is a story behind it. Choi Young-joon offered himself to assume the captaincy in order to relieve manager Ki-il Nam’s worries about the new captain. He said, “I made a claim during my time in Pohang. I will make good use of my experience and live up to expectations.”
Gwangju is pushing ahead with the system of Lee Sun-min, vice-captain Ahn Yeong-gyu, the first-class contributor to promotion. However, there is a change in the vice-captain. For the first time in the club’s history, Sandro, a Brazilian striker with foreign status, was appointed vice-captain. A club official explained that he had finished adapting to the Gwangju team in his second year, and expressed his desire to become a leader among foreign players.
Jeonbuk, Gangwon, Daegu, Seoul, and Daejeon have not yet announced their captains. The captain is an important responsibility to act as a bridge between the coaching staff and the players. Managers of each team are devoting enough time to contemplating reappointment and replacement of existing captains. Seoul has yet to be announced, but Na Sang-ho, who served as captain during the last season, is serving as captain at the field training ground, so there is a possibility of a second term. Gangwon is inevitable to change. Last year’s captain Kim Dong-hyun enlisted in the military (Kim Cheon, managing director). The vice-captain of Gangwon in the 2022 season was Lim Chang-woo.