8 years after Ki Sung-yueng's grass remarks. If you've moved since then
8 years after Ki Sung-yueng's grass remarks. If you've moved since then
Blog Article
Early 2025 soccer issues are dominated by grass. In the K-League of professional soccer, it is a mess of grass even after the A-match of the national soccer team.
In the K-League, super star Lingard, who flew from England, caused a big controversy as he was angry with the "Sangambeol paddy field grass." It was an international disgrace as more than 9 million players with more than 9 million followers posted related information on SNS.
Korean national team players have also joined the team. After two recent A matches in Goyang and Suwon, Son Heung-min smiled bitterly, saying, "There must be a reason why home ground performance is worse than original information." Lee Jae-seong also said, "Home ground should have an advantage for us. It is sad that we keep blaming grass."
The grass problem at a soccer field is nothing new. In summer, people burn up and turn into yellow land here and there, and sometimes it falls off with soil because its roots do not properly fall at the border between winter and spring. As the grass is bound to be affected by nature, it is hard to come up with a sharp answer.
Money can actually solve the problem. Qatar had no choice but to turn on the air conditioner in its stadium as it was wondering how it would host the World Cup in the heat of the year. Then, it would be okay. But we don't have enough oil money to spend. All of a sudden, it is difficult. But it can change if you're constantly interested.
It was an opportunity to have a close look into the situation. Had we paid close attention to Ki Sung-yueng, the captain of the Korean national soccer team, eight years ago, younger players might not have complained about it.
It was in March 2017. The Korean national soccer team led by Coach Uli Stielike played the sixth match of the Asian qualifying round for the 2018 Russia World Cup against China at Hurong Stadium in Changsha, China. As the team lost 0-1, it was dubbed the "Changsha disaster," and the match directly triggered Stielike's replacement. Along with the result, Ki Sung-yueng's remarks at the time caused significant repercussions.
Asked about the burden of visiting teams or environmental difficulties, he said, "I heard the grass at Hurong Stadium is good. Maybe it's better than playing at Sangam Stadium. Sangam is the place where I don't want to run the most because the grass is so bad."
It was all the more surprising because the environment was not the same as now in which players could make "decisive remarks." As a result, however, Ki ended up with empty cries. From 2017 to early 2025, Ki addressed grass issues whenever he had the opportunity. When Ki gave up saying, "No matter how much I say, it will not change," a new opportunity was in place.
The Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation, which was surprised as the grass issue emerged as a public concern beyond the soccer community, announced that it would invest 3.3 billion won to repair the grass at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, three times higher than 1.1 billion won last year, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also announced that it will investigate the total number of grass conditions at 27 soccer fields where K-League games are held with the Korea Professional Football Federation.
Those who could bring about substantial changes had to take action. We are not in a situation where we are trying to keep our heads up. If the controversy subsides, we can move on. It is something the soccer community can do to urge them to keep paying attention. The political community and the government made an effort to keep an eye on the soccer community in the future, and they should not miss this opportunity.
In May of that year, when Ki Sung-yueng gave a blow, the FIFA U-20 World Cup was held in Korea. Legendary former coach Cha Bum-keun served as vice chairman of the organizing committee and played together, and Shin Tae-yong's team led by Lee Seung-woo and Baek Seung-ho reached the round of 16 and was hot with soccer. 스포츠토토
At that time, matches were held in six places, including Incheon, Suwon, Cheonan, Daejeon, Jeonju, and Jeju. I don't remember hearing about grass issues throughout the competition. This is the result of paying more attention to the competition because it is a competition that the world is paying attention to. You can do that. Eight years later, the captain of the national team should not talk about grass.