Kim shoots for top scorer
By Jason KimK-League expansion club Gangwon FC is riding high on the efforts of its rookie forward, Kim Young-hu.
Kim has been rampant of late, scoring six goals in the past six games and helping Gangwon FC earn K-League’s “Best Team” of the week award for the third consecutive week.
The club is the first team to achieve this feat since the K-League first handed out the award back in May 2007.
In Gangwon’s game on Sunday against the Suwon Bluewings, Kim hit the back of the net twice, once in the 29th minute and adding another in the 59th, helping his team to a 3-3 draw against Suwon.
After his latest efforts, Kim now sits in second place in the K-League’s top scorer’s list with 13 goals.
That’s two less than the leader Lee Dong-gook.
While Lee got off to a tremendous start in the early portion of the season, he has been held to one goal in his past five games.
Kim, on the other hand, is scoring one a game at the moment, getting on the score sheet 11 times in the past 10 matches.
Seven games remain in the regular season, so Kim has a good shot at overtaking Lee as the top goal getter this season.
Having played in the National League last season, Kim scored an impressive 30 goals in 26 games in the industrial league. Although he was lauded for his scoring touch, skeptics wondered whether the forward would be able to reproduce in Korea’s top football league the form he has shown in the lower league.
Not only has he dispelled such thoughts, he has also displayed a knack for finding his teammates as well, accumulating seven assists in the season, the most for a rookie.
Gangwon FC is currently in 10th place in league standings with five wins, 10 ties and six losses.
By Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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