“The number 23 may seem like Michael Jordan’s back number to some, but to me, it’s 23 years of living in a square of green grass. I started playing soccer at the age of 13 and have been running for 23 years.”
South Korean women’s national soccer team goalkeeper Yoon Young-gl, 35, has announced her retirement from the game after 23 years.메이저사이트
The goalkeeper, who played at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023, announced her decision on social media on Saturday, saying, “I’m ending my football career.” “If a lifetime is like a book, then my football career was a chapter in my life, and now I’m ending it with the last sentence,” she said.
“Many of you know that it hasn’t always been a pink road, but there have been countless injuries, tears I’ve swallowed alone, constantly building my body in the off-season and in-season, and preparing for each game, each match, pushing myself hard as a professional,” Yoon said. “It’s been the life of a soccer player who has experienced joy and disappointment, sometimes with good results, sometimes with ridiculous mistakes.” He also reflected on his career.
“I was really shocked when I switched from a field player to a goalkeeper, but I thought that I had to go for the sake of the team and that this was my path, and I have been running until now by improving myself more,” Yoon said. “It is a position where even one mistake is unacceptable, so to bear the weight, I have always prepared myself with more training and a disciplined life so that I would not be lazy.” He also expressed his pride in the life of a soccer player.
Yoon joined the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2008, before the WK League was launched. However, in 2009, he was injured and changed his position from field player to goalkeeper. This was at the recommendation of then-coach Seo Jeong-ho.
However, Yoon returned to field player a year later and then moved to Suwon City Facilities Management Corporation in 2012. However, he was offered a job as a goalkeeper again as the club’s goalkeepers were leaving.
In 2017, Yoon moved to upstart Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, where he continued to play as a defender and occasionally as a field player. After contemplating retirement, Yoon solidified herself as a goalkeeper under the tutelage of then-goalkeeping coach Kim Pung-joo and moved to Aarhus (Denmark) GF Wimin, where she became the highest-ranked goalkeeper in the history of women’s soccer. She later played for Heken FF.
After a stint with the U-20 national team, Yoon made the switch to goalkeeping and earned a call-up to the senior national team in 2015, when she was named to the final roster for the Women’s World Cup in Canada. After making her mark at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in Jordan, Yoon was named to the roster for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, where she helped Korea win a bronze medal.
After missing the final roster for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France due to a knee injury, Yoon gave it her all when she was included in the final roster for Australia-New Zealand. However, she was left disappointed when she made a crucial mistake in the first group game against Colombia, trailing 0-1.
“If you only look at the results, of course I can have regrets,” Yoon said. As a professional who has to show results, especially in an important place like the World Cup with the national team, I ended my 23-year soccer career with a disappointing result,” Yoon said. “However, I have been preparing my best and have been training myself without shame, so I can honestly say that I am not a soccer player with regrets, but a soccer player who has been doing my best,” he emphasized.
“I was grateful to be able to represent Korea on the big stage of the World Cup and play with the Korean flag,” said Yoon Young-gl. “Even if I had to leave the last game of my soccer career with a disappointing performance, I intend to mark the last period of my soccer career with gratitude, not regret, with the sweat drops I have shed so far.” “I have lived my life as a soccer player without being ashamed of anyone, so I think this period is not a period of regret but of gratitude. The chapter of my life as a soccer player ends like this, but in the next chapter of my life, I will do my best to live it as well.”
Hello, I’m Yoon Young-gul.
The number 23 may seem like Michael Jordan’s back number to some, but for me, 23 years of living in a square of green grass is the first thing that comes to mind. As a kid who loved to run around, I started playing soccer at the tender age of 13, so that’s 23 years of running.
In that time, as many of you know, the road hasn’t always been pink, but it’s been the life of a soccer player, with countless injuries, tears swallowed alone, off-season and in-season workouts, and professionalism pushing me hard, preparing and playing game after game, sometimes with good results, sometimes with ridiculous mistakes, experiencing joy and heartbreak. When I switched from field player to goalkeeper, I was devastated, but I knew I had to do it for the team, and I pushed myself harder, thinking that this was my path. It was a position where I couldn’t afford to make a single mistake, so the weight was even heavier, but to handle that weight, I always prepared myself with more training and a disciplined life so that I wouldn’t become lazy, and that’s the life of a soccer player.
I decided to replace the word ‘regret’ with ‘best’.
If you only look at the results, of course you can have regrets.
In a professional position where you have to show results, especially at the World Cup for the national team, I ended my 23-year soccer career with a disappointing result, but I can honestly say that I have prepared myself to the best of my ability, and I have trained myself to this point without shame, so I am not a soccer player with regrets, but a soccer player who has done his best.
I was a happy player because I wasn’t unhappy.
In my soccer journey, I’ve had to compete for a starting spot every time,
I think I was a very happy player because I had good coaches, fellow soccer players, and people who believed in me and supported me. I can say with confidence that I was a happy soccer player because I had people who walked with me through injuries, when I wasn’t playing, and when I wasn’t playing well. I didn’t let the results prove me, but I realized that there were many good encounters throughout my soccer life that were granted to me when I prepared to the best of my ability and gave my best to my life as a good person before I was a soccer player. So, yes, I was a happy soccer player.
My soccer career is coming to an end.
If a lifetime is like a book, then my soccer career was a chapter in my life, and now I’m about to close it with the last sentence.
Even though I was grateful to be able to represent Korea on the big stage of the World Cup and play with the taegeum mark, and even though I ended my football career with a disappointing performance, I will end my football career with gratitude, not regret, with the sweat drops I have shed so far. I have lived my life as a footballer without shame, so I guess this is a period of gratitude, not regret. This is how the chapter of my football career ends,
I will continue to live my life to the fullest in the next chapter of my life.
I would like to thank the coaches who have taught me so much
Coach Lee Doo-cheol, Coach Yoo Hocheon, Coach Ha Jae-cheol, Coach Kim Pung-ju, and Coach Lee Im-yeon,
Coach Hwang In-sun, Coach Seo Jung-ho, Coach Ko Go-hee, Coach Lee Jae-seok, and Coach Jung Jeong-seok,
Coach Kwak Sang-deuk, Coach Park Kyu-hong, and Assistant Coach Oh Myung-il,
and the coaches who helped and supported us a lot.
Song Sook, Min Ah, Ae Kyung, Sung Hee, Na Kyung, Grace, Seol Ah, Min Hee, Geun Hye, and Nahyun,
Joo Hyun, Min Chae, Jee Hoe, Soo Hyun, Jian, Sang Kwon, Sung Min, Hyun Kyu, Eun Jung, Yoon Jung,
Mr. Yongjun, Mr. Yeesong, Ms. Youngju, Ms. Jihoo, Ms. Eunhee, Mr. Changseok…
Finally, my most precious relationship
I would like to thank my family, Dongdaemun Flying Squirrel, Jiyul, and Sungkyu.
As soon as I have time, I will visit you and say hello.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.