‘Incheon Re-landing’ Mugosa’s Unforgettable Day in the Life “Where even Iniesta couldn’t run…I’m happy to be back”
For Stefan Mugosa, 31, who has landed back in Incheon, living in Japan for the past year has been a painful memory he’d rather not relive.
Incheon United lost 0-2 to Jeonbuk Hyundai in the 25th round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 7 p.m. on June 6. With the loss, Incheon’s bid for a fourth straight win was thwarted and they remain in eighth place with 33 points.
Incheon threw in a game-changing move that saw Mugosa, who returned to the team this summer, play full-time, but could not find the back of the net for Jeonbuk. In his first game back in the K League in 407 days, Mugosa was still not 100 percent, but he showed flashes of brilliance, including a sharp scissor kick. He battled hard with Jeonbuk defenders at the front line to create chances.
After the game, coach Cho Sung-hwan said, “(Mugosa) was concerned about his activity level, but he did better than I thought. However, there were some difficulties in ball possession, linkage, and competition. I think he will get better overall.”
Speaking to Mixzone, Mugosa said, “I’m very happy to have a comeback match. I’m happy, but I’m not happy about the result. Everyone was expecting a better result. Maybe it was the difficult weather, but we didn’t get the result we wanted. Anyway, I tried my best, but I didn’t reach my personal standards. I need to work harder in the future.”
Mugosa added: “I’m very grateful to the fans for coming out. I also got a lot of help from my teammates. I’m very happy to be back once again, and I hope to stay in the K League for a long time.”
On his physical condition, Mugosa said, “I’m not in the best shape yet. It’s difficult and not good. I feel like I’m still fighting with myself rather than my opponents. It’s not easy to get back into shape in this weather. I didn’t train for about a month after the injury, and I just came back two weeks ago, so it’s difficult. Overall, I’m healthy,” he explained.
Mugosa was all smiles throughout the interview, but he couldn’t help but smile when talking about his time in Japan. He suited up for Japan’s Bissell Kobe about a year ago, but only played about 10 games across all competitions and didn’t score a single goal. Eventually, after a long wait, Mugosha released his contract with Kobe and returned to Incheon. 메이저사이트
“Right before I went to Japan, I scored nearly 18 goals in 20 games, including the national team. The Spanish coach (Miguel Ángel Rotina) who took me there was fired before I could sign the contract.” “The new Japanese coach (Takayuki Yoshida) used mainly Japanese players, and even now they only use one foreign player, a center back. Even Andreas Iniesta can’t play, so what can I expect?” he lamented.
Mugosa was not alone: “A lot of foreign players have had problems with the manager. But I was in such good form that I expected it to be different, but there were no exceptions. I was always excluded,” he confessed.
The 2023 season was no different. “I had a good performance in winter training, scoring six goals, so I was told that I would be given another chance, but when the league started, Japanese players excelled and the opportunity never came,” Mugosa said.
This season, Kobe has been led by Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto, who have 16 goals and four assists in the league and eight goals and nine assists respectively. Under Yoshida, who tends to favor homegrown players, Mugosa’s chances were slim.
Mugosa said he hopes to put his heartbreak in Japan behind him and continue his good memories in Korea. “Even last winter, I was looking forward to coming back (to Incheon), but it was difficult. Anyway, to conclude, good luck to Kobe. But it’s not something I want to remember or talk about. In the future, I want to write good memories in beautiful Korea.”