Suwon Bluewings coach Yoon Sung Hyo has confirmed he will start all four of his international stars to give his side the best chance of getting off to a winning start in their AFC Champions League clash with Sydney FC on Wednesday night.
After a disappointing seventh place finish in the K-League last season, the Bluewings head to Sydney with a new-look squad bolstered by the signings of four South Korean internationals.
Goalkeeper Jung Sung Ryong, defender Hwang Jae Won, midfielder Lee Yong Rae and striker Yeom Gi Hoon all joined the club following South Korea’s Asian Cup campaign in January.
The quartet have had little time to get used to playing with their new side with the K-League season yet to get underway.
Hyo admits bringing four new players straight into his side could affect the cohesiveness of their play but it’s a risk he’s willing to take against the Sky Blues.
“Those players are all very experienced and will strengthen the team,” he said on Tuesday.
“The thing I’m worried about is the organising skills.”
“I haven’t had a long time to work with them in the team.”
“They are all very skilled players but haven-t had much time together. It will take time.”
“But we will definitely win in March and April once they have time to play together.”
Hyo admitted he had only ever seen one of Sydney’s matches and was expecting a difficult first up test for his side.
But the experienced coach wasn’t interested in trying to play down his side’s expectations for the upcoming season, declaring he wanted to win everything on offer.
“If we don’t have any injuries we expect to win the K-League and the ACL at the same time,” Hyo said.
“In the past (K-League side) Pohang won the ACL title and Seongnam (Ilhwa) won last year so this year will be Suwon’s turn.”
Suwon captain Choi Sung-Kuk, another new recruit to the club, said he knew little about the A-League but expected Sydney to put up a good fight.
“I don’t know about A-League, but Australia is one of the strongest teams in Asia so the A-League should be good,” he said.
“But we want to win tomorrow’s game and tomorrow’s game will be the first game for our new coach so we will absolutely win the game.”
