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Suwon Samsung, led by head coach Yeom Ki-hoon, will play the first round of the "Hana Bank K League 2 2024" against Chungnam Asan FC at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 2 p.m. on the 3rd.

After suffering from relegation for the first time last season, Suwon will start anew with Yeom Ki-hoon. Yeom, who briefly led Suwon as its last-minute acting coach last year, is now appointed as its official coach, taking the first step toward promotion with Suwon.

After being demoted, the power leak was unstoppable. Suwon failed to catch Go Seung-beom, who was its vice-captain and key midfielder, and in addition to Go, Basani, Bulthuis, Ahn Byung-joon, and Kim Joo-won left the team in the winter. Instead, Suwon recruited Kim Hyun, Son Suk-yong, and Cho Yoon-sung to work hard to strengthen their power within the given conditions.

Expectations are high for young players, too. Suwon also has high expectations for Lee Sang-min, who is the same age as Kim Joo-chan, its "boy breadwinner," and Kim Sang-joon, who returned from a loan deal at I-Park in Busan.

Above all, the fact that it is Yeom's official debut as a coach is also interested in him. Yeom, who took the helm of Suwon for a while last year, is now a full-time coach who has to play in the season with a heavy responsibility to promote Suwon.

Despite the relegation for the first time since its foundation and the new season with a new coach, Suwon is still considered a strong team. Most of the K-League 2 teams have unanimously picked Suwon as the team that will compete for the title this season along with Seoul E-Land FC and Busan. Yeom also said he would not think about anything other than direct promotion, or championship.

"Of course, it is a game that we have to win. We have a goal of promotion and we are confident in what we have prepared during the winter training," Yeom told reporters before the game. "We will do our best to bring both the contents and the result of today's game."

Suwon is being kept in check a lot. Manager Kim Hyun-seok of Asan in South Chungcheong Province, who conducted an interview before Yeom, cautioned Suwon by quoting an old saying, "Even if the rich fail, it will last for three years."

When bringing up the topic, Yeom said, "I think so, too, that we are selected as candidates for promotion. Many people keep us in check, but I am confident that we can overcome that check. I told the players today to spread what we have prepared as much as possible. So I think the first game we play today will be more important than ever."

Yeom said Suwon is currently 70 to 80 percent ready. "The last practice match and yesterday's last training session went as well as I thought. I think 70 to 80 percent of the players are ready now. The number of players will increase through the league, but I have high expectations because I think the team is quite well prepared. I hope that the results will come out as well," he said, expressing confidence once again.

It was the confidence possible because I had enough time to prepare. Yeom said, "I was more nervous when I was acting as a coach. I had a lot of thoughts about what to prepare at the time, but now I have enough time. So I feel more comfortable."

Coach Yeom's emphasis on "first hitting soccer" is expected to be seen today. Coach Yeom said he must be aggressive in order to win, so he will play aggressive soccer today.

"I also told the players that even if we don't play well, we will continue to push ahead with what we have trained so far," Yeom said. "I also thought that the only way to get promoted is to attack soccer. If we aim to get promoted, I think we have to attack more, not defense, and we have to bully the opponent first," he said, signaling an aggressive game.

Above all, I hoped that today's game would reduce the fans' worries a little.

"I'm sorry, but I'm still grateful, and I know that the fans are worried and worried about this team a lot," Yeom said. However, my coaching and the players put a lot of effort into changing the worry into an expectation. I've prepared it so that it can turn into an expectation rather than a worry. I'll have to prepare well so that I can let go of that worry today."