Seoul: New Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca expressed gratitude to his players for their hard work on Wednesday night in Seoul, as they secured his first victory with the club, winning 3-1 against a team of South Korean league All-Stars in a preseason match.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the match took place at Seoul World Cup Stadium with approximately 28,000 fans in attendance, many of whom donned Man City blue despite the sweltering conditions. Three different players found the net for Man City against Team K League, marking a positive start for Maresca, who succeeded Pep Guardiola in June. Maresca's first match ended in a shootout loss to Inter Milan in Hong Kong last week, making this win all the more significant.
"For us, the result is always important even if it's a friendly game," Maresca stated at a postmatch press conference. "But the most important thing is to see the effort of the players with this weather and also to see that compared to the last game, in some aspects we did something better."
During a prematch press conference on Tuesday, Maresca emphasized his goal of seeing daily improvements from his squad as they prepare for the upcoming Premier League season. The Italian coach expressed satisfaction with the team's progress and their commitment to his strategies.
"The good thing is that the things that we have been trying since Day 1, day by day, I can see that the players are doing the effort to show that," Maresca noted. "At the same time, it is very important that I can see that they trust the job that we are doing. For me, it is the main thing."
Chung Jung-yong, the coach of the opposing team, noted the valuable experience gained from playing against such a skilled team, despite Man City missing some key players due to the recent FIFA World Cup. "We don't know if we will have another chance like this. Although we gave up some goals, at least we scored one in front of our fans," Chung said. He added that his players learned a great deal from the match, which he hopes will benefit them in the future.