Gwangju FC's sudden attack! They can't even adapt to the grass at the Al Hilal Stadium and fight... "We need time to recover from the lawn. We have to train at the training site"

Gwangju FC's sudden attack! They can't even adapt to the grass at the Al Hilal Stadium and fight... "We need time to recover from the lawn. We have to train at the training site"

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Gwangju FC, which is about to face Saudi Arabia's strongest Al-Hilal, has the biggest variable.

He has never stepped on the lawn of King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, where the game will be held, and is in a situation where he has to play.

Gwangju, led by head coach Lee Jung-hyo, will play against Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League (ACLE) in the 2024-2025 season at 1:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korea Standard Time) at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Gwangju, which arrived in Saudi Arabia on the 21st, conducted training focusing on local adaptation at a training site near the stadium. On the 23rd, an informal training session was held, and reporters also visited the training site.
After arriving at the training site on the team bus, the team immediately warmed up and began training. 스포츠토토

Right next to the Gwangju training ground, Kawasaki Frontale of the Japanese J-League was training ahead of the match against Alsad.

With the sound of encouragement from both sides of the training ground, the players, who warmed up with a simple run, simply exchanged balls after stretching, checking their sense of ball and getting used to the condition of the lawn.
The lawn at the training ground was not bad. It's called rice cake grass, but as the team official said, it certainly looked better than the grass of the domestic stadium.

The problem is that the grass condition at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, where the game will be held, is unknown to the players.

Official training scheduled for the next day will also be held at a nearby training site, not at the stadium.

Usually, official training on the eve of the game is held at the stadium where the game is held so that players can step on the grass themselves.

However, as the U-17 Asian Cup was recently held in Jeddah and many games were held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, the grass needs time to recover.

Not only Gwangju players but also Al-Hilal players will not be allowed to step on the grass until the day of the game. Only a small number of team officials can check the grass conditions.
"The next day's training session will be held at a training site other than the existing training site. The training site and the lawn at the stadium are a little different," a club official said. "Overall, it is good, but there are some places where the grass was cut. We can't proceed with the official training because we need time to recover the grass until the day of the game."

In other words, Gwangju has a big variable. Al-Hilal players are familiar with King Abdullah Sports City Stadium because they belong to the Saudi league, even if they cannot step on the grass before the game.

On the other hand, it is the first time for Gwangju players to play in this stadium. It is important to have time to adapt to the stadium where you will be playing for the first time. It is a considerable loss to not have even a minute of that time. Even if you get used to the grass at the training site, it will not be of much help as it is different from the grass at the stadium.

Gwangju, which is looking beyond the semifinals to win the championship, has another mountain to climb.