There is a 'foreign player' who retired to the national team for the team... "Focus 100% on Incheon" [the scene of Incheon]

*This content was translated by AI.

For Stephen Mugosa (34, Montenegro), a foreign striker of the K League 1 Incheon United, the 28th of last month remains an unforgettable day. This is because it was a retirement match for the Montenegrin national team, which he played for 12 years since 2015. Starting in the A-match warm-up match against Andorra at Montenegro's Podgorica, he scored a penalty kick in the 41st minute to lead his team to a 2-0 victory. With the final goal he scored in his retirement match, Mugosa retired from the Montenegrin national team with a record of 15 goals in 64 A matches.

Mugosa's affection for his team, Incheon, was the biggest reason for his retirement from the Montenegrin national team. In an interview with local media lobsport last month, ahead of his retirement, he said, "As I got older, it was physically difficult to move long distances due to the transfer of the national team, and it was difficult to recover." He was determined to use the energy he used to travel to and from the national team, now only for the Incheon club.

In fact, Mugosa continued to push back and forth between Montenegro every A match period. He has been playing for Incheon since 2018, and it has become a burden. However, Mugosa chose to retire from the national team rather than go to Europe, such as Montenegro's own league, to reduce the burden of moving. "There are many young and promising strikers who will be active for more than 10 years," he said, expressing his willingness to hand over his position to his juniors.

Kimcheon Sangmu match on the 5th, the first match since returning from the retirement game of the national team. Mugosa, who shook off the burden, flew really fast in the game held at the Incheon Football Stadium. In the 9th minute of the first half, he scored a sensational first goal with a non-stop shot that passed Lee Myung-joo's pass and crossed the goalkeeper's height, and then scored a penalty in the extra time of the first half. Mugosa recorded eight shots alone on the day, including six shots in the first half alone. Thanks to this, Incheon beat Gimcheon 2-1 with Mugosa's multi-goal lead to its second consecutive victory. The ranking, which was the lowest, has already risen to fifth place.

Mugosa also scored a goal on the same day, recording an "attack point for the entire game" in the opening six games of this season. In particular, he scored in five of the six games, and one game (against Gwangju FC) that failed to score the only goal also accumulated assists. It has been flying since the beginning of the first season, when it re-advised after setting the 'true record' of being the top scorer in the K League 1 in the 2024 season and the top scorer in the K League 2 in the 2025 season. He is quite old, but he is continuing his performance from the beginning of the season as if he has forgotten his age.

In a meeting with reporters after the game, Mugosa did not hide his affection for the Incheon club throughout the interview. "It was such an honor and meaningful 12 years of playing for Montenegro," he said. However, he chose to retire to focus 100% on Incheon. Now that I don't even travel (travel), I can focus on Incheon," he said.

Mugosa said, "I also consulted with my wife. My wife misses Montenegro a lot, but she cooperated well. He said it's a good time. I want to focus 100% on the club, and I think that's the best way, so I decided to retire," he added.

Since he is able to focus on Incheon and has been showing a scary scoring pace since the beginning of the season, there will be a lot of expectations for the K League 1 scoring title in two years. Mugosa, however, said, "There are a lot of good strikers in K League 1. Above all, the team's goals are the most important. "I have no choice but to trust the team and trust the players and play," he said.

"For me, team victory is the most important thing. I think the secret to building offensive points in every game at the beginning of the season also comes from there, he said. "I don't have a team without me. The most important thing is the growth of the team. At the end of the season, I just hope Incheon will be ranked high."

Incheon coach Yoon Jung-hwan, who sees Mugosa, is also applauding. Coach Yoon said, "Mugosa said it's good because there's no movement for the national team anymore. He must have had difficulty managing his condition due to the transfer during the A-match period, he said. "It was the same when I came last year, but he has a very special affection for this team. He said, "I'm a grateful player as a coach because I'm the type to take care of myself even if I don't talk about it."

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*This content was translated by AI.