The ‘Korean Messi’ Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC) is living up to his nickname. In his third year in the K League, his senses are on fire this season.
In the 12th round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 Round 12 away match against Jeonbuk Hyundai, Lee scored a multi-goal performance to lead his team to a 3-2 comeback victory. Lee came on at the start of the second half with his team trailing 0-2 and scored two goals, one with his left foot and one with his head.
With five or six goals in the league, Lee is now ranked fifth in the league in scoring. He is only two goals behind his close friend and top scorer Lee Sang-heon (Gangwon FC, 8 goals), 바카라사이트 so he can cautiously expect to become the top scorer.
Lee Seung-woo, who is in his third year in the K-League, has been playing mostly as a substitute this season. It’s a strategic choice by Suwon head coach Kim Eun-joong, not a lack of competition for the starting role. Naturally, his best performances have come in the second half. After leading the team to victory against Jeonbuk, Lee told a news agency, “I play from the second half, so I can create offensive points in the second half. If I don’t play in the first half, I can’t accumulate points,” he said confidently.
It’s not all hype. Lee has eight offensive points (six goals and two assists) in 10 league games this season. That’s 0.8 offensive points per game, and only Lee Dong-kyung (Gimcheon Commerce – 1.5) and Jung Jae-hee (Pohang Steelers – 0.88) are better than Lee in that category.
Even when compared to previous years, Lee’s pace is overwhelming. Lee scored his debut goal in the sixth round of 2022, his rookie season in the K League, and his sixth goal in the 16th round. It took him about a month longer to reach six goals than this season, when he scored 14 goals in 35 games. This was Lee’s most brilliant season since his professional debut.
Last year, when he scored 10 goals in 35 games, he didn’t reach his sixth goal of the season until late August. It took him 28 rounds, and this year, with the team having played 16 fewer games, he matched his tally from last season. Given his current momentum and high level of form, expectations for a career-high are high. If he makes it to the end of the season without any injuries or transfers, he could mathematically break his record from two seasons ago.
His sense of stability, one of his strongest factors, is expected to give him wings in the scoring race this season. “In my first or second year in the K League, I didn’t enjoy every game because I was under a lot of pressure and pressure. I didn’t sleep well and lived a fierce life every day, but my psychological state improved by performing well in the first and second years,” he said. “That’s why I was able to relax when I played, and I think my scoring pace was good from the beginning.”
Lee’s performance could also change Suwon’s position in the team. Suwon finished the 2022 season in seventh place in the K League 1 with Lee scoring 14 goals. Last season, when he scored 10 goals, they finished 11th, narrowly staying in the top flight after a relegation playoff with Busan IPark in K League 2. Lee was the team’s top scorer in the previous two seasons.
This season, Suwon is currently fourth in K League 1 after 12 games, thanks to Lee’s early-season goal storm. Considering Suwon’s previous best finish was fifth in the 2021 season, this is certainly a remarkable achievement.