Marcoa hopes to be K League’s top goal scorer

Gyeongnam FC’s Brazilian striker Marcos Vinicius Amaral Alves, commonly known as Marcao in Korea, said Tuesday he aims to become the leading scorer in the top-tier football league in Korea after a successful stint last year in the second division.

Marcao led Gyeongnam’s promotion to the first division K League 1 last year as K League 2 champions after netting 22 goals in 32 matches. He was the top scorer and was voted the MVP of the K League 2 last year.

The 23-year-old said he wants to achieve similar success with Gyeongnam this year in the K League 1.

“I don’t know how many goals I will score this season, but I want to take the scoring title,” Marcao said to reporters at a media day event for the K League in Seoul. “I also want to win the league with my teammates. I know Gyeongnam are not a powerhouse in this league, but we’ll try hard to collect good results.”

Marcao’s Brazilian compatriot Johnathan Aparecido da Silva, who now plays for Chinese side Tianjin Teda, became the first player to win the scoring title in both first and second divisions in Korea. Johnathan had previously topped the scoring in low-tier K League 2 in 2015 and did the same in the K League 1 last year.

Marcao could become the first player to be the top scorer in the two leagues in consecutive seasons.

“I feel thankful that South Korean fans are paying so much attention to me like they did with Johnathan,” he said. “I just want to score more goals and help my team lift the trophy.”

The striker, listed at 196 centimeters (about 6 feet 4 inches), admitted that achieving his objective won’t be easy this season.

“There is a difference between the K League 1 and the K League 2, so I’ve prepared for the new season a lot,” he said. “So I will work hard.”

Yonhap