A debut goal is valuable for anyone, but for Kim Hoon-min, it was even more meaningful.
Seongnam FC defeated Suwon Samsung 2-1 in the 10th round of the Hana Bank K League 2 2024 on March 5 at 2 p.m. at Tancheon Sports Complex. It was Seongnam’s first win in six matches since March 30 against Gimpo FC in the fourth round. It was their first win against Suwon in three years since August 14, 2021. The last time they beat Suwon at home was in July 2020, four years ago. 8,252 fans attended the game.
Kim Hoon-min scored his K League debut goal in the victory. The former Suwon FC youth player joined Seongnam in 2022 while still a student at Soongsil University. He made an immediate impact as a right-back. He stayed on after the club’s relegation to the 스포츠토토사이트 K League 2 and rotated between starting and substituting roles.
After starting on the bench against Suwon, Kim Hoon-min came on for Yang Tae-yang in the 20th minute. He started as a right midfielder and worked alongside Jang Hyo-joon to defend the flank. Then, in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, he rattled the Suwon goal with a fantastic left-footed shot. After picking up the ball alone from the center line, he dribbled past the defense and scored with an accurate left-footed shot. It was a goal that practically sealed the game. Despite conceding a late goal to Lee Sang-min, Seongnam held on for the win.
After the game, Kim told ‘Interfootball’ in a phone interview, “I’m glad I scored a goal because there were a lot of fans here, and I’m even happier that the team won.” “I was defending, but I was in an unfamiliar midfield position, and I was thinking, ‘Is this the right position?’ Then the ball came there, and I went up, and when I folded, the defense was broken. I looked up and all I could see was the goal, so I took a shot and it went in. It was actually a bad shot, but I was happy it went in,” he laughs.
“When I scored, I couldn’t see anything and I just ran to the bench, so the players, the coaches, they all came running out. I was really happy,” he added.
It was a goal that resonated with Kim Hoon-min, who hasn’t been able to find a place in Seongnam in his third year as a professional. “I didn’t play much, so this year I prepared with the idea of being more helpful to the team. My main position is fullback, but I’ve also played winger and midfield, and I’m preparing as a multi-player in training,” he said.
“We have coaches for each position. For each position I play, I have a coach who explains to me what I need to do, and they often show me videos and tell me what I need to do,” he explains.
Kim said he was a member of the Suwon Samsung U-12 team. “I played harder today,” he said. When I was younger, I was on the Suwon Samsung U-12 team and went to almost every game. Today, I saw that it was our home stadium and the Suwon fans were cheering harder, so I wanted to win. I was determined to win. I think today’s win brought the team closer together. I think we know how to win,” he said, adding that it was a special feeling because it was against Suwon that he scored his debut goal and won the match.