The Aug. 27 episode delivers the G League’s marathon-season finale: the title match.
With the throne on the line, FC Wonder Women and FC Nine Cheok Giants square off in a high-stakes showdown. Wonder Women has ridden a true underdog surge, while Nine Cheok Giants ― one of the show’s OG powerhouses ― has been out to prove its pedigree. The two last met in the Group B round-robin, where Wonder Women edged it in a penalty shootout. All eyes are on whether Nine Cheok Giants can flip the script and finally lift its first trophy.
Nine Cheok Giants has twice stumbled at the finish line, earning a reputation as perennial contenders without the hardware. Determined not to let another chance slip, head coach Lee Young-pyo doubled down on “show-up-every-day” grit, ramping up training to sharpen the squad. “We wanted it more in practice. We didn’t stop even in torrential rain or snow,” captain Lee Hyun-yi says ahead of the final. After months of grind, fans are wondering if this is the night the drought ends.
To neutralize the matchup’s biggest headache, Mashima, Coach Lee has tapped shutdown specialist Cha Se-rin ― the team’s “Ace Eraser” who’s already blanketed top scorers like Shim Euddeum and Park Hayan with relentless man-marking. “I’m emptying the tank to find a way to stop Mashima,” Cha vows. Up front, “Bazooka” Kim Jin-kyung enters in career-best form with pinpoint strikes, while “Rugby Ace” Heo Kyung-hee anchors the back line. Under Lee’s no-frills, results-first approach, Nine Cheok Giants looks primed to play its smartest football yet.
Adding to the buzz, former pro baseball pitcher Yoo Hee-kwan dropped by to cheer on Nine Cheok Giants. When Heo unleashed her signature long throw-in, Yoo cracked, “She throws farther than I do,” drawing laughs. Former members Song Hae-na and Lim Kyung-min also took their seats in the stands, hoping to witness a storybook finish.
Nine Cheok Giants’s all-or-nothing push to end its trophy drought unfolds on “Kick a Goal,” airing Aug. 27 at 9 p.m. KST on SBS.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)