Lopez was booed by Suwon Samsung fans, but he didn’t falter in his performance.
Busan IPark defeated Suwon 1-0 in the fourth round of the Hana Bank K League 2 2024 at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on Oct. 31. The Busan team tied with Suwon on six points and moved up to seventh place in the league with a superior goal difference.
Busan played well on the day. Following their last match against Gyeongnam FC, they secured another away win with a good performance. As coach Park Jin-seob had promised before the game, the team dropped lower than usual to draw Suwon in and showed several tasty counterattacks that allowed them to transition into the attack extremely quickly.
The key player on the day was Lopez. Lopez is a veteran of nearly seven years in the K-League, and this season, he moved to Busan for his first taste of the K-League 2 stage. He has played in all of Busan’s league matches so far, providing a strong presence in the front line.
In this match, he was paired with Choi Gun-ju up top. Park envisioned Lopez holding up the front with his strength, while Choi used his quick feet to penetrate the space behind him. This allowed them to shake up Suwon’s defense, which was a bit high up the field.
Lopez also had a hand in Pesin’s goal. In the 23rd minute, Lopez collected a cross from the opposite side of the field, drew the defense out of position, and then played an exquisite pass to an unmarked Pesin. With only the goalkeeper in front of him, Pesin calmly struck the ball into the back of the net. Busan held on for the 1-0 victory.
Lopez was happy with both the game and the result. “Suwon is the favorite to win the championship, and we all knew it wouldn’t be easy today. We talked from the beginning about playing a little more together and harder, and I think that’s what we did and that’s why we were able to win,” he said.
Lopez was booed by the Suwon fans on the day. After scoring the game’s first goal in the 23rd minute, Lopez made a provocative gesture toward the Suwon fans in the stands. From then on, every time Lopez touched the ball, the Suwon fans booed him harshly, but he defended the ball or made good passes to his teammates.
For Lopez, the boos actually encouraged him. “When the Suwon fans kept booing me, it motivated me even more. “They were booing every time I got the ball, so it motivated me to be more focused and save it,” he said. “So when I got the ball, I passed it to Pessin and I was so happy that it was a goal. I wanted to show the other team’s fans that I was here,” he said.
Lopez has adapted to Busan and the K League 2 in a smooth way. “When I first came to Busan, the manager, coaches, and players all accepted me well. The 사설토토 city of Busan is self-explanatory, and I will do my best to help the team win promotion this year,” he said. Coincidentally, it was Suwon FC and Lopez that prevented Busan from being promoted last season.
Now, Busan will look to build on their good result against Suwon and get their first home win. Busan lost to Seoul E-Land and Gimpo FC, and won a penalty shootout against Ulsan Citizens Football Club, which is officially a draw.
“I don’t think we play that badly at home,” Lopez said. We had the advantage and we said we had to play with more concentration, but the result didn’t go our way. But the players keep telling each other that at home we work harder than anyone else and we want to score goals and win. I think in our next home game, we can keep the good momentum going and get a good result.”
