FC Seoul's Croatian striker Banks has finally carved his name into the K-League.
In an away match between the 14th and 14th rounds of Hana Bank K League 1 2025 against Daegu FC held at I.M. Bank Park in Daegu on Sunday, Banks scored the winning goal to lead the team to a 1-0 victory. Seoul jumped two notches to the seventh place (4 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses, 18 points).
It was special for them in many ways. They made their debut goal in the K League 1, made their first start in six games, and answered Kim Ki-dong's trust. After stealing the ball without missing Daegu defender Kim Hyun-joon's mistake in the second minute of the second half, they immediately connected to Lingard to create a chance. Lingard's left-footed shot was blocked by Daegu goalkeeper Han Tae-hee, but Banks calmly finished the ball off and scored the first goal.
Banks, who became the top scorer with 22 goals for Lapid Bucharest, Romania, in the 2022-2023 season, joined Seoul ahead of this season. The club expected that Banks, based on his 190cm physique, would replace the role of provision, linkage and scoring by Ilyuchenko (Suwon Samsung).
However, the unfamiliar K-League stage was not very easy. Banks, who joined the team late after the winter training in Seoul, had difficulty adapting to team tactics and had to play as a substitute for most of the early games of the season because his physical strength did not fully rise. Except for the away game (0-0 draw) against Ulsan HD on the 5th of last month, all seven previous games were substituted.
However, he had the opportunity to start the game against Daegu for the first time in a long time, and clearly displayed his presence. He displayed compliance not only in goals but also in competition with defense and connection plays, opening a way for offense.
"A goal is like a meal for a striker," he said after the match. "I had a hard time because I didn't have a goal, but the coach constantly advised me that if I play for my team, a goal naturally follows me. I got a lot of confidence."
Trust with coach Kim helped him greatly to adapt to the K-League 바카라. "Coach Kim has a firm philosophy of soccer. He also strongly demands that strikers participate in defense. It's a completely different way from previous teams, but we're learning as much as we can," he said. "Thanks to the coach, the pace of adaptation has accelerated." Attention is focusing on whether Banks, who scored a matchless goal, will be able to lead Seoul to rebound.