Jeonbuk Hyundai will look to defend their ‘champion’ status against Gwangju FC.
Jeonbuk hosts Gwangju in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Hana OneQ FA Cup at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28. It will be the home debut of new head coach Dan Petrescu.
Jeonbuk is vowing to make a clean sweep. On April 24, Jeonbuk suffered a bitter defeat to Gwangju in Petrescu’s debut match. They went down 0-2 in the 19th round of the K League 1.
Jeonbuk and Gwangju are meeting for the first time in a tournament outside of the league. After an exploratory league campaign, Jeonbuk is promising to win this time around. 메이저놀이터
“We won’t repeat our mistakes and we will correct what went wrong,” Petrescu said, “and we will give our fans a victory as it is our first home game.”
If the defending champions beat Gwangju, they will be one step closer to their second consecutive FA Cup title.
Last year, Jeonbuk defeated FC Seoul to reach the top of the FA Cup. They earned an automatic spot in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL). It was Jeonbuk’s fifth FA Cup title. Having previously won the competition in 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2020, Jeonbuk is tied with Suwon for the most FA Cup titles (5).
Jeonbuk is not at 100% strength. Left and right fullbacks Jang Ji-soo and Kim Moon-hwan, center back Hong Jeong-ho, and central midfielder Baek Seung-ho have been sidelined with injuries.
If Gwangju wins, it will be their first appearance in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, surpassing their previous best finish of quarterfinals (2017). Gwangju head coach Lee Jung-hyo, who faces leaders Ulsan Hyundai in a K League 1 match this weekend, has made a few changes to his lineup against Jeonbuk.