Midfielder Hong Hyun-seok (Gent) is back on the field after being called up to the national team in November for an A-match, but was forced to withdraw with symptoms of a stress fracture.
Hong was the starting attacking midfielder for Gent in their 2023-2024 Belgian Jupiler League Round of 16 away match against Genk at the Segeka Arena in Genk, Belgium, on March 3.
Hong, a gold medalist at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, made his first appearance for Gent in three weeks after the 14th round league match against Anderlecht on March 11.
He joined Jürgen Klinsmann’s South Korean squad for the November A-match and was released from the squad early on March 16 after suffering a stress fracture in his left tibia, and had not played since his return to Hent.
Hong started and played until the 26th minute of the second half before being replaced by Hugo Kuipers, marking his return to action despite not registering an attacking point. Hong now has two goals and two assists in the league this season.
Gent are in third place with 29 points after drawing 2-2 with Heinke, their third consecutive draw in the league. Genk are sixth with 25 points.
Tariq Tisoudali opened the scoring for Ghent in the 12th minute of the first half, but a brace from Ira Sor in the 21st minute and six minutes into the second half turned the tide in favor of Genk.
Tisudali’s ‘theater equalizer’ in stoppage time, after Ghent had failed to recover from the deficit, earned the two teams a share of the spoils. 토토
