Daegu and Ulsan coaches in crisis

[Anchor]

Starting this week, prestigious overseas teams visiting Korea will face off against K League players in the preseason.

For Ulsan's coach Kim Pan-gon and Daegu's coach Kim Byung-soo, who are under pressure due to their teams' poor performances, this schedule is not exactly welcome.

Reporter Kim Hwa-young has the story.

[Report]

Despite the collapse of the center, the precise finishing towards the goal and the back tumbling celebration performed with a massive body.

Malcao announced his return to the K League with multiple goals, but Hong Chul struck a dagger into Ulsan with a dramatic equalizer.

The only shout from Ulsan fans, who have been boycotting support, was directed at the coach.

[“Kim Pan-gon out!”]

Ulsan has not won in 10 official matches, including the Club World Cup.

Amid demands from fans for his resignation, coach Kim Pan-gon will face Newcastle with Team K League in two days.

With a league match against Suwon FC immediately following the friendly, time is already tight for focusing solely on team training, but key players like Jo Hyun-woo and Kim Young-gwon are also called up to Team K League, continuing the cold gaze from fans.

Daegu's situation is even more desperate as they remain at the bottom of the league.

They must play a friendly match against Barcelona next week while facing the threat of relegation to the second division.

[Kim Byung-soo/Daegu Coach: “We have no words even if we had ten mouths. However, we will not give up and will do our best.”]

Fans have expressed their sense of crisis by hanging critical banners, but they were angered once by the poor performance against Pohang and twice by the club's passive response.

[Daegu Club Official - Daegu Fan: “I’m really sorry, but the president is a bit unwell… (He says he’s unwell!)”]

With the continued poor performance, the interest of Daegu fans seems to have cooled, as over 18,000 tickets for the Barcelona match remain unsold, unlike Seoul FC.

Coach Kim Byung-soo also admitted that he has “no capacity to focus on the Barcelona match,” making it difficult to put in full effort.

For fans, it is certainly an exciting big match.

However, for a team struggling for survival, it is becoming more of a strain than a joy.

This is KBS News, Kim Hwa-young.