Hwang Ui-jo, Hwang In-beom make Greek Super League debut with Olympiacos

Football

Published: 30 Aug. 2022, 17:15

Hwang Ui-jo, Hwang In-beom make Greek Super League debut with Olympiacos

Hwang In-beom plays the ball during a Greek Super League match between Olympiacos FC and Asteras Tripolis on Monday at Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium in Amiklon, Greece. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hwang Ui-jo, back, plays during a Greek Super League match between Olympiacos FC and Asteras Tripolis on Monday at Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium in Amiklon, Greece. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hwang Ui-jo and Hwang In-beom made their Greek Super League debut with Olympiacos FC on Monday night at Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium in Amiklon, Greece.

Hwang Ui-jo debuted on the Greek League after signing with the Premier League club Nottingham Forest FC on Saturday and being loaned to Olympiacos FC straight away. He will stay with the Greek club for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. Hwang Ui-jo's loan reunites him with his national teammate Hwang In-beom, who inked a deal with the Greek club in July.

Despite neither player being able to score or make an assist during the 0-0 draw against Asteras Tripolis on Monday, Hwang In-beom was named Man of the Match after showing off on-point passes and his prowess as a midfielder on his first start with the club in a League match.

While Hwang In-beom is still looking for his first Super League goal with the club, he was able to score his first goal in an Olympiacos shirt on Aug. 18 during his first proper game with the club.

It wasn't just a goal, but a crucial equalizer in the first leg of a UEFA Europa League playoff against Cypriot side Apollon Limassol. The result, at Apollon's home stadium in Cyprus, put the two sides back on a level playing field ahead of the second leg. Olympiacos eventually went on to win the second leg 3-1 on penalties on Aug 26 and advanced to the group stage.

This photo provided by Olympiacos FC on Saturday shows the Greek football club's newest Korean player Hwang Ui-jo. [YONHAP]

Hwang Ui-jo on Monday was substituted in during the second half of the match, in the 70th minute for Giorgos Masouras.

Twenty minutes after coming on to the pitch, Hwang Ui-jo and Hwang In-beom were able to show off some experience playing together on the national team. With five minutes left on the clock, Mathieu Valbuena of Olympiacos sent the ball over to Hwang In-beom, who saw Hwang Ui-jo behind him and passed it to him. Hwang Ui-jo turned around to kick it with his right foot, but the ball veered slightly above the rim.

Despite Olympiakos creating many chances to shoot, converting was a serious problem for the club, marking 15 shots but only one of which was on target. Asteras Tripolis only had three shots and one on target.

Hwang Ui-jo's inking a deal with Forest and first outing with the Greek club puts an end to a long string of transfer rumors for the Korean striker.

Hwang Ui-jo has spent his last three seasons with Ligue 1 side Bordeaux where he became the club's top scorer last season with 12 goals.

But after the club was demoted to the second-tier Ligue 2 last season, Hwang Ui-jo had been looking for a way out of Bordeaux as the club also went into financial administration within the span of a couple of months. The club's financial woes complicated a possible move, making Bordeaux desperate to sell and encouraging other clubs to try and lowball an offer.

Hwang Ui-jo has long been a transfer rumor favorite, and even before relegation was often suggested as an easy way for Bordeaux to make some much needed money.

In the summer of 2021, Hwang Ui-jo was linked to clubs across Europe, with a last-minute deal with either an unnamed wealthy Russian club or Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon apparently falling through in the dying hours of the transfer window.

In January, Hwang Ui-jo was again expected to make a move, although a flurry of goals — including a hat trick against Strasbourg on Jan. 23 — effectively closed that window.

This summer, he has been linked to multiple moves within France and further overseas.

Hwang Ui-jo's appearance with the Greek club also means that it is possible that three Koreans could play on the pitch at the same time during the 2022-23 Europa League this year.

Olympiacos and Bundesliga side SC Freiburg were both placed in group G during the group stage draw on Friday alongside Qarabag and Nantes, meaning that Freiburg's Jeong Woo-young could possibly face both Hwang In-beom and Hwang Ui-jo in the Europa League.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]