Hwang Hee-chan is proud to have surpassed Park Ji-sung’s record.
After finishing the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) season on a high note, Hwang Hee-chan arrived at Incheon International Airport at around 5 p.m. on Nov. 21. After his arrival interview, Hwang took photos with fans at the airport and signed autographs to thank them.
During the interview, Hwang said, “I think I had a good season, scoring 12 goals in the PL. I would like to thank my family, fans, coaching staff, and teammates for helping me do well. I think I gained confidence and motivation to do better through this season,” Hwang said, concluding the season.
When asked about his favorite and least favorite matches of the season, he said, “There were a lot of good matches. In terms of proportion, 80 to 90 percent of the games were good. If I had to pick one of them, I would say the home game against Man City in the seventh round (2-1 win over Wolverhampton) because I scored the goal and we won. The game I was disappointed with was the Asian Cup semifinal against Jordan. I think we could have done a lot better than that,” he concluded.
This season was the best of Hwang’s career. He had previously scored double-digit goals in the league while playing for Leipzig and Salzburg, but he scored 12 goals in the Premier League (PL), one of Europe’s top stages. He also surpassed Park Ji-sung (19) by reaching 20 league goals in three seasons.
Hwang said, “It’s a great honor to surpass Park Ji-sung’s record. He is the one who made it possible for me to dream about the PL stage. He also nurtured my dreams as a soccer player and national team player. I’m happy and proud to be able to surpass his record. But I could see how hard Park Ji-sung had to go through before. I’ve always looked up to him, and after the season, he contacted me to tell me that he was struggling. I was so honored,” he said with pride.
Hwang Hee-chan, whose dreams were nurtured by Park Ji-sung, hopes to be an inspiration to younger players. “I may have surpassed his goal scoring record, but I can’t forget the emotions and memories I received from Park Ji-sung. I’m trying to 토토 show that to the younger players in the future. I want to be a player who continues to develop as I have done so far, and I don’t know where it will end, but I just want to do my best as much as I can,” Hwang concluded.
Hwang is now looking ahead to the A-Match in June. South Korea will host the second round of World Cup Asia qualifiers during the A-Match. They will first travel to Singapore before returning home to face China. South Korea currently sits at the top of the group with three wins and one draw from four games.
In particular, Hwang Hee-chan has scored 13 goals in his A-match career so far. He is tied with Park Ji-sung for 38th on the list. He only needs one more goal in his next two matches to surpass the ‘senior’ Park Ji-sung’s record. The June A-Match roster will be announced on June 27th.