'Why on earth?' Suwon Samsung manager Lee Jung-hyo deploys 2006-born goalkeeper 'Striker' → Defeat to Busan in the 'third tier'... Suwon suffers shocking elimination from Korea Cup Round 2

*This content was translated by AI.

Suwon Samsung manager Lee Jung-hyo made a rather radical decision to field a goalkeeper as a field player. However, Suwon ultimately failed to overcome the barrier posed by a lower-league team and suffered the humiliation of early elimination from the Korea Cup.

On the 15th at 7 p.m., Suwon engaged in a fierce battle that extended into extra time against Busan Transportation Corporation, the top-ranked team in the K3 League, in the Round of 64 of the 2026-2027 Korea Cup. Suwon lost 1-2. As a result, Suwon was caught by a lower-league team and eliminated from the Korea Cup's second round.

On this day, Suwon suffered from a severe shortage of players even before the match began. Key members including Kim Do-yeon, Ilyuchenko, Feshin, Kim Ji-sung, Go Seung-beom, Kim Sung-joo, Jung Dong-yoon, Lee Jun-jae, and Mo Gyeong-bin were named in the starting lineup, while center-back Han Hyun-seo, acquired from Pohang Steelers, made his starting debut. The goal was guarded by veteran Yang Hyung-mo, who started for the first time in a while.

The starting lineup was assembled normally, but the bench was problematic. While Busan Transportation Corporation filled all nine substitution slots, Suwon's bench consisted of only six players: standby goalkeeper Lee Kyung-jun, Park Dae-won, Lebon, Kang Sung-jin, Kim Ji-ho, and Park Ji-won.

Suwon started well. In the 11th minute of the first half, a cross resulting from Go Seung-beom's volley missing the target during a corner kick situation was connected, and Feshin finished with a header goal to take the lead. Suwon, leading 1-0 at halftime, made a change by substituting Lee Jun-jae for Park Dae-won immediately after the second half began.

However, the atmosphere shifted strangely in the second half. In the 17th minute of the second half, Suwon goalkeeper Yang Hyung-mo committed a fatal touch error inside the penalty box, and Yan of Busan Transportation Corporation did not miss the opportunity to score an equalizer, returning the match to its starting point.

After conceding the equalizer, Suwon immediately launched a full-scale attack by substituting in Kang Sung-jin, Lebon, and Kim Ji-ho all at once. To make matters worse, in the 28th minute of the second half, substitute Park Dae-won collapsed due to injury, forcing Park Ji-won onto the field urgently. With this substitution, Suwon exhausted all five available field player cards on its bench.

The match entered extra time, and with no more usable field player resources available, manager Lee Jung-hyo made a shocking decision.

In the first half of extra time, Suwon substituted in 2006-born rookie goalkeeper Lee Kyung-jun as an attacker. Lee Kyung-jun donned the jersey of Park Dae-won, who had been substituted out at the end of the first half, and was positioned as a forward striker, creating a bizarre scene. Thus, goalkeeper Lee Kyung-jun made his professional debut as a field player.

Despite this desperate measure of deploying a goalkeeper in the most advanced position, Suwon ultimately could not smile. In the late stages of the first half of extra time, Kim Ji-ho scored an agonizing own goal, allowing Suwon to fall behind 1-2. Suwon threw everything they had for the remaining time to seek an equalizer but could not open Busan Transportation Corporation's goal again, eventually bowing to a lower-league team and sadly concluding their tournament campaign.

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*This content was translated by AI.