카지노사이트Mugosa announces his retirement in Incheon.
Incheon United held a press conference at the Incheon Football Stadium at 5.30pm on the 16th to announce Mugosa’s return.
Mugosa joined Incheon ahead of the 2018 season. He had a phenomenal goal-scoring season. He scored 19 goals in 35 games in 2018, 14 goals in 32 games in 2019, 12 goals in 24 games in 2020, nine goals in 20 games in 2021, and 14 goals in 18 games in 2022, totalling 68 points in 129 games.
Beyond Incheon, Mugosa has become one of the leading strikers in the K League. He won the K League 1 Player of the Month award in September 2020, February-March 2022, and April 2022. He was also nominated for the K League’s Best 11 Forward of the Season for three consecutive seasons in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Then, last summer, a buyout payment for Bissell Kobe (Japan) sealed the deal. Kobe were in the relegation zone at the time, and Mugosa had been on a scoring tear with 14 goals in 18 games, making him a big-money signing.
Kobe arrived with high hopes. But it wasn’t the utopia he expected. From the second half of last season to this year, Mugosa has made just 12 official appearances. He pushed for a move this summer, terminating his contract with Kobe and returning to his ‘home team’ Incheon.
Mugosa landed in Incheon via Incheon International Airport on the 10th. It was 380 days after his farewell match on 25 June last year. His contract runs for two and a half years until the 2025 season.
At his return press conference, Mugosa said, “I’m back and I want to play only for Incheon. I can’t easily talk about the future, but if I had a personal goal, it would be to play for Incheon until I retire. This is my home, and I don’t want to go anywhere else but Incheon anymore.”
[Read the full press conference below].
Q. What are your thoughts?
“I am grateful to be back in Incheon, and there are some people I really want to thank along the way. Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, CEO Lee Jeon-soo, Chief Executive Officer Lim Joong-yong, and other club officials made it possible for me to come back. Above all, I am happy to be back in Incheon, my beloved club. I am happy to be able to communicate with the fans and share my joy in a place that feels like home. Incheon United means a lot to me and my family, not just as a club. It means a lot to me.”
Q. Why did you choose Incheon despite the interest from domestic clubs?
“Coming back to Incheon was a very easy decision for me. First and foremost, I had a great time at Incheon and I love the club. Incheon is more than a club, it’s a family. There were other clubs that offered me a good deal, but in my mind, Incheon was the only one. The process of coming back was not easy, and just a month or two ago, the situation was unclear and difficult. I knew I wanted to come back to Incheon. I am grateful to the club officials and the owner for making the transfer possible.”
“One more thing I want to say is that I want to play for Incheon as long as I’m back. It’s not easy to talk about the future, but if I had a personal goal, it would be to play for Incheon until I retire. I still have a lot of time to play for this club and it’s too early to talk about retirement, but I want to say this for the fans and for the club. This is my home, and I don’t want to go anywhere else but Incheon anymore.”
Q. You went to the Taj after leaving Incheon, what was it like?
“I was really happy to be back. When I left the airport in Japan for Incheon, I was very excited and didn’t know how to express my joy. I was even more excited to sign the contract this time than I was when I first signed with Incheon.”
Q. What challenges did you face in Japan?
“It’s true that there were difficulties in terms of football. I was happy with the city, the environment, and I want to say good things about the J-League, but there’s something I want to talk about because I went there to play football. I was shocked that I didn’t play as soon as I got there. I thought that if I played five or six games, I could start scoring and keep it going, but then I went and played two or three games and I couldn’t even play 90 minutes, so it was stressful. In terms of football, my life in Japan was stressful, difficult and uncomfortable. It was stressful because I went there for football. Last year, I was in good form, scoring 18 goals in 20 games for the national team and club, but it was difficult because I couldn’t play. In Kobe’s case, he had seven foreigners, but only one actually went out. So the foreign players were struggling. I’m a gentleman, so I don’t want to say anything bad here. I would like to conclude by saying that Kobe is grateful to the city for what the club has given him.”Q. What made you fall in love with Incheon?
“Football, life, everything. When I first came to Incheon in 2018, I was welcomed very well and felt a lot of happiness, and as I improved my record, I received a lot of love from the fans, and I felt that love with my whole body. The positive energy was inside and outside the stadium, and even on the road, fans came up to me and said hello and gave me a lot of support. They gave me the motivation I needed, and that happiness translated into better performances. There was a special relationship and trust that I’ve never seen anywhere else. That’s why I love the club so much. I can’t forget about my family. I have a wife, a daughter and a son. When they come to the stadium and see their dad playing and being supported, they go home happy. Living in Songdo and the school they’re going to are also things that make me happy.”
Q. Did you watch the Incheon game in Kobe?
“When I was leaving, I told many people that I would support Incheon as the No. 1 fan after I left. I’ve been in contact with some of the former players and club officials. I’ve been following the season since I left and this year’s season. I would say I did a good job last year, and this year’s squad is the most complete since I joined in 2018. We have to do our best and try to move up the rankings, we can’t be satisfied (with where we are). We are not close to the goals we set for the team, so my goal is to get back to the top split and go even higher. From what I’ve seen since leaving Incheon, I’ve been very happy to see good players coming in. I’m even more happy to be able to join them. I know what Hernandez did with Gyeongnam and Gerso with Jeju, and I’m happy to join the existing players. I’m not saying that Incheon was weak before, they were good then, but I’m saying that since I joined in 2018, we’ve built a great squad.”
Q. How are you feeling, when will you be able to play, and what are your personal goals?
“In my last call-up, I had a minor injury against the Czech Republic. I had a knee injury and took three weeks off. I have to say that I can’t expect to play as well as I did before I left Incheon last year. A lot of people are paying attention to me, physically and medically. So I can’t promise that I will play in the next game against Seoul or Jeonbuk, or when I will play. I haven’t played for a long time, so it will take time to find the form I had before I left. I will have to grow with training, hard work, and the help of my teammates. You’ve never answered your goal with a number. I can only say that I will do the same this time and try my best. My main goal is to help the team, to help the team and to be in the top six. You’re in a lot of competitions this season, you’ve got an important ACL coming up, and you’re in the FA Cup quarter-finals. I think we have the best squad we’ve ever had, so I think we can challenge for the club’s first FA Cup trophy. The manager is aware of my form and we’ve been communicating about when I’ll be back. I’m going to be back in the shape you think I’m going to be in, and I’m confident.”
Q. Talking to the coach, who was most excited to see you back?
“I don’t have to say who, everyone was happy. The coach was very welcoming. Not only because we’ve been together before, but because I believe in him and he believes in me. I didn’t say anything too long. I just said that I want to come here and score goals again, I want to help the team, I want to bring new energy to this team, I want to take it to the next level.”
Q. Closing thoughts
“Once again, I would like to thank Mayor Yoo Jung-bok, the world’s best forward, Lim Joong-yong, and the club officials. I want to put all my best and hard work into helping and contributing to the team this season, and I want to enjoy it.”