South Korean forward Hwang Ui-jo doesn't know where he will be playing next month, with his short-term loan with the K League 1 club FC Seoul expiring at the end of June.
But at least on Tuesday night, Hwang knew exactly where he wanted to be, finally scoring a goal for the national team.
Hwang was subbed in to begin the second half of the friendly match against El Salvador in the central city of Daejeon and then broke the scoreless deadlock four minutes later. He pulled off a spin-o-rama move on defender Bryan Tamacas before beating goalkeeper Tomas Romero on the short side from the left side of the box.
It was Hwang's first international goal since June last year.
Hwang rose to prominence under the previous national team boss, Paulo Bento, and was South Korea's top goal scorer during Bento's four-year regime. But on club leave, Hwang fell on some hard times after being unable to find his footing with Olympiacos in Greece, to which he was loaned after signing with Nottingham Forest in August 2022.
Hwang was usurped by the younger and more physical forward Cho Gue-sung in the pecking order during the FIFA World Cup last fall. The 30-year-old then signed a six-month loan with FC Seoul in February, hoping to ignite his stagnant career.
Goals have been hard to come by though, with four in 17 matches so far this year. But Hwang did score in each of the last two matches, on June 7 and 11, before reporting to national team duties, last week.
Whether those two goals, plus the one he netted Tuesday, will help Hwang find a spot in Europe once again remains to be seen. As recently as the start of June, Hwang had said he had no idea where he'd be playing in the second half of this year.
For now, though, Hwang is happy that he chose to come home.
"I wanted to play on a more consistent basis and get back into form. That's why I decided to sign here," Hwang said. "Whenever I enter a match, I try to fire as many shots as I can and be as aggressive as I can."
Jurgen Klinsmann, the new South Korea head coach and a former scoring star for Germany in his playing days, has taken a particular liking to his trio of forwards: Hwang, Cho and Oh Hyeon-gyu. Klinsmann has called on them to keep shooting at the net and ask questions later.
"He wanted us to be on the attack, and he tried to help us move more organically up front," Hwang said. "He likes to have two strikers up front. And I think Gue-sung and Hyeon-gyu both played well today. I believe there's got to be constant competition for the striker position."
Source: Yonhap News Agency