Wolves took on the Manchester City academy yesterday morning – and there was a proud moment for Hwang Hee-chan.
After beating FC Porto 1-0 the night before, Wanderers were back in match action on Wednesday morning.
Wolves’ team was made up of players who hadn’t featured much, or at all, against Porto.
The game finished 0-0, but it was another useful exercise for Julen Lopetegui’s squad of players as they seek to get their fitness and sharpness to peak levels.
One man who played in the game against City’s young guns was Hwang.
Hwang was an unused substitute against Porto, but started yesterday morning – and he wore the captain’s armband.
Hwang Hee-chan captains Wolves for the first time, as former Molineux talisman Raul Jimenez expresses his pride
With no Max Kilman in the starting XI, the captain’s armband was bestowed on Hwang by Julen Lopetegui.
And even though it was only a pre-season friendly, it was a proud moment for the South Korea international, who documented the occasion on his Instagram page.
Hwang uploaded a picture of him from the game, and included the caption ‘It’s always an honour to play as a captain’.
Matheus Cunha commented ‘Play a lot’ and a clapping emoji.
And there was also a message from the now former Wolves striker, Raul Jimenez.
Jimenez played up top with Hwang a few times at Wolves, and the pair seem to have a good friendship.
Jimenez was clearly delighted for the 27-year-old, as he left three clapping emojis and a fire emoji.
Hwang should aim to step up and become more of a leader at Wolves
It is great to see Hwang sporting the captain’s armband for Wolves, something he hasn’t done before.
Perhaps the decision was made because he was the player with the most experience in the team that played against the City youngsters.
When Hwang first arrived at Wolves, he was quite a reserved character.
He rarely did interviews and in videos released by the club he came across as fairly shy, which was understandable.
But nowadays, Hwang looks much more comfortable with his surroundings when he appears in videos. And he looks to be a very popular member of the squad which is fantastic.
He should now be looking to step up as one of the leaders at Wolves.
He’s been at the club for two years now, and Wanderers have just lost a few of those in the form of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Conor Coady and Jimenez.
Lopetegui will need the slightly older players in the group to step up to the plate. Hopefully, Hwang is now ready to do that after getting a taste of the captaincy.