Denmark’s ‘tearaway’ Cho Kyu-sung is unstoppable. Mittwylan made history.
Mittwillan lost 1-4 in the third round of the Danish Superliga 2023-2024 on Saturday at 11 p.m. (ET) at Lingby Stadion in Lingby, Denmark. It was the first defeat of the season for Mittwillan, who had won two in a row after opening the season. With six points, Mittwillan is in fourth place. Lingbi recorded their first win of the season. Cho Kyu-sung came on as a 35th-minute substitute and exploded for a goal for the third straight game.
After starting the opening two games, Cho was benched. This was after playing 120 minutes in the Europa League Conference (UECL) qualifier three days earlier. Mittwillan lost the away second leg of the 2023-2024 UECL second qualifying round against Progress Niederkorn (Luxembourg) on April 4 in Differdange, Luxembourg, by a score of 1:2. However, having won the first leg 2-0 at home last month, Mittwilan advanced to the third qualifier with a 3-2 aggregate score from the first and second legs. Sori Kaba and Iver Forsum were up front in place of a tired Cho Kyu-sung. Jonas Lossl, Paulinho, Stefan Gartenmann, Sverrir Ingi Ingason, Henrik Dahlsgård, Oliver Sørensen Jensen, Emiliano Martinez, Chárez, and Amin Gigović made up the starting lineup.
Having played a hard-fought match, Mitwylan were heavily fatigued throughout. To make matters worse, the game got off to a bad start. In the sixth minute of the first half, Gartenmann was sent off for a direct challenge on video review. Outnumbered and outplayed, Mitwylan were pushed back by the latter. In the 17th minute, Paulinho conceded a penalty. Frédéric Gutkér converted the penalty. In the 29th minute, Colbane Pinsson added another goal to make it 0-2 at halftime.
In the 13th minute of the second half, Oliver Sørensen Jensen scored an own goal. A cross from the opposition hit Jensen’s foot and instead found its way into the Mittwillan goal. Mittwilan brought on Cho Kyu-sung in the 36th minute to try and find a way back into the game, but just a minute later Ljungby scored his fourth goal. A quick counter-attack led to the fourth goal. A low cross from the right was flicked on by Chukwuanyi.
But Cho Kyu-sung saved face. After coming on for Emiliano Martinez, Cho created chances with his lively movements and eventually found the back of the net. In second-half stoppage time, he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Henrik Dahlsgaard sent a long ball forward, and Cho Kyu-sung overcame the opposing defense to find himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and with a deft left-footed shot just over the keeper’s height, he split the goal. It was Cho’s third goal of the league and his third in three games. Cho had scored in all three league matches, starting with a goal in the league opener on July 22, followed by a goal in the second round match on July 30, and then a goal today. With three goals, Cho is tied for third on the team in scoring. Not surprisingly, it’s the most on the team.
Cho Kyu-sung became the first player in Mittwilan history to do so. He became the first player in the club’s 15-year history to score in each of his first three league games. “He is the only player in the club’s 15-year history to have scored in all three league games immediately after joining,” said Bet365 in Denmark. Three players have previously scored in their first two league games: Frank Onyekah (now at Brentford) in 2018, Anders Dreyer (now at Anderlecht) in 2020 and Cho in 2023. Given Onyekah’s rise to the big leagues, Cho’s record is quite significant. In his short time on the field, Cho had 3 successful passes, 1 key pass, 1 shot (1 on target), 1 ground contest, 2 aerial contests, and 1 foul. Sofascore gave him a rating of 7.7. He was the only player to score more than 7 points. Best performance.
He started the season opener against Hvidovre on March 22 and scored a spectacular header in the 11th minute of the second half after the game was tied at 0-0 to give his team a 1-0 victory. Cho raced onto a sharp cross from Brazilian left fullback Paulinho at the near post and rattled the net with a precise header. For his efforts, Cho was named the official Man of the Match (MOTM). Soccer statistics outlet Sofa Score gave him a 7.8 rating, the highest in the team.
On the 30th, he scored a right-footed mid-range shot from the front of the penalty box in first-half stoppage time against Silkeborg. After the match, soccer stats site Footmob gave him an 8.0 rating, the highest of any player on either team.
For his performance, Cho was named to the July Team of the Month. In the July Team of the Month for the 2023-24 season, which was announced by the Danish Superliga on July 5 through its official channel, Cho was lined up as a frontline right-back in a 4-4-2 formation. ‘Seven different teams, eight different nationalities, 11 talented players,’ the Danish Superliga said.
He was also nominated for the Superliga Player of the Month for July. On July 2, Super League announced on its official social media that five players, including Cho Kyu-sung, were nominated for Super League Player of the Month for July. The five nominees, including Cho Kyu-sung, will be voted for one player of the month by fans through a public vote. Jo’s competition is Nuama (Norsjelland), Finnbogason (Ljungby), Larsson (Copenhagen) and Keller (Odense).
Cho Kyu-sung donned the Mittwillan jersey on the 11th of last month. Mittwillan announced on the club’s channel on the 11th, “We have signed Cho Kyu-sung from Jeonbuk Hyundai. Until 2028. Cho Kyu-sung is the perfect player for Meatwillan,” the team officially announced.
Cho proved his worth at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He received offers from all over the world. Scottish giants Celtic, Mainz in the Bundesliga, and Minnesota in the USL were the top three teams interested in signing him. However, Cho decided that he didn’t have the form to challenge in Europe at the time. He pushed the transfer to the summer. Jeonbuk was also active온라인바카라
He had a bit of a rough start to the season but has since picked up his game. After watching Cho Kyu-sung for a long time, Meatwillan reached out to him. Cho was quick to respond to Meatwillan’s offer. After joining Meatwillan, Cho said, “I had a chance to play in Europe and I think this is the right time. The club was very committed to me. I’m sure this is the right transfer. I am learning English every day. I am sociable and outgoing. I value being close to my teammates. I am motivated and I look forward to the challenge ahead.” Mittwillan also has high hopes for Cho, who will wear the number 10 shirt.
There were some concerns about Cho heading to Denmark. They were worried that he had gone to a marginal league instead of the big leagues. However, Cho is proving to be the right choice with his top performances. Mitwylan will host Omonia (Cyprus) on Nov. 11 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) third qualifying round. Unlike in the league, Cho has yet to find the back of the net in European competition. It will be interesting to see if he can bounce back and find the back of the net once again.