The winter of professional soccer K League 1 Jeju United (hereafter referred to as Jeju) is hot. Coach Nam Ki-il’s offensive soccer is heating up in the field training in Thailand. Heimar (Neymar + Hays) loads and Tank (Yuri) fires a strong scorer.
Jeju will conduct overseas winter training in Chiang Mai, Thailand from the 5th to the 30th. Even during the Lunar New Year holidays, he continues to sweat. After entering Thailand, Jeju, which focused on conditioning and strengthening physical strength, has been improving its tactics through practice matches since the second week of training.
The part that focuses the most on the mock test is the destructive power of the attack. It is necessary to fill the gap between Joo Min-gyu (39 goals, 8 assists) and Gerso (13 goals, 9 assists), who jointly scored 69 offensive points over the past two seasons. After the end of the 2022 season, Joo Min-gyu moved to Ulsan Hyundai, and Gerso moved to Incheon United.
However, the question mark they left behind is turning into a new exclamation mark. “Heimar” Hayes and “Tank” Yuri, whom Jeju ambitiously recruited, are quickly integrating into the team. In particular, Hayes’ class and Yuri’s destructive power, which had impressive performances (16 goals and 9 assists) on the K-League 1 and K-League 2 stages over the past two seasons, are creating strong synergy in practice matches.
The 2023 Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Provincial Governor Oh Young-hoon) international exchange support project to promote the Jeju brand using the football fever in Southeast Asia, revitalize Jeju tourism, and enhance Jeju’s status as a free international city, met the best sparring opponents. On the 14th and 17th, Jeju faced Chiang Rai United, a rising powerhouse in Thai League 1, twice. Chiang Rai United recently met FC Seoul, Jeonbuk Hyundai, and Daegu FC in the Asian Champions League, and is a team familiar to domestic fans as former K-League Kim Ji-min is active.
The result was a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a 2-2 draw in the second leg. As it was literally a practice stage, he did not dwell on the result and maintained a clear direction for the perfection of the attack. In particular, coach Nam Ki-il’s attack details, which emphasize fast ball handling following cooperative defense and quick attack transition from the center to the side, produced several impressive scenes in the match against Chiang Rai United. At the center were Hayes and Yuri.
Yuri scored all of Jeju’s goals (three goals), including two consecutive matches. When coach Nam Ki-il ordered a powerful movement in front of the gate, he trampled the opponent’s goal like his nickname ‘Tank’ with his overwhelming physicality of 185cm and 88kg. In the first game, he scored a goal with an acrobatic bicycle kick on a side cross, and in the second game, he scored multiple goals with a header with a high RBI and a play that did not lose focus on a corner kick chance.
The loader of the destructive ‘Tank (Yuri)’ is ‘Heymar (Neymar + Hayes’) Heis. Following the first game, Hayes quickly changed the flow of the game in the second game by actively participating in the defense and passing using the position of his teammate. In particular, in the second game, he stepped up as a kicker from a corner kick chance in the 33rd minute of the first half and helped Yuri’s opening goal with an elaborate right-footed kick.
The combination of attacks made by Hayes and Yuri cracks the densely lined defense line of Chiang Rai United, adding to the strength of firepower, while at the same time giving coach Nam Ki-il, who is more serious about offense than anyone else, new faith. In the process of leading teams with weak squads, the image of playing defensive soccer with tight performance was strong, but it is different in Jeju. 스포츠토토
Director Nam Ki-il is preparing not only the combination of Hay and Yuri, but also various attack options. Coach Nam Ki-il said, “The score is important, but making the details of the attack is a more encouraging result in the long term. Hayes and Yuri quickly adapt to the team and live up to expectations. Another offensive option is also being prepared. This training camp I will turn the disappointment (the departure of Joo Min-gyu and Zerso) into a new sense of expectation.”
Hayes said, “I heard about Yuri’s joining and looked for his play video. Even on the ground, I’m learning what kind of ball Yuri likes to receive and what kind of movement he makes. I’m from Brazil, so communication is going well, so I have higher expectations. “he said. Yuri smiled, saying, “Hayes is the best helper. He gives me sincere help on and off the field, so I gain more and more confidence. I will prepare well in the Thai training so that each other’s synergy can continue on the K-League 1 stage.”