Ulsan HD FC won their 2026 South Korean football season opener under their new head coach Saturday. Brazilian forward Yago Cariello celebrated his return to Ulsan with a brace as Ulsan defeated Gangwon FC 3-1 at Munsu Football Stadium in the southeastern city of Ulsan. Kim Hyun-seog, former MVP-winning star for Ulsan who took the club’s reins in December, earned his first victory as Ulsan’s new boss, following two losses at the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Elite tournament earlier this month. Yago, as he is better known in the K League 1, first played in South Korea for Gangwon FC from 2023 to 2024. He also spent time with Ulsan in parts of the 2024 and 2025 seasons before being loaned to Zhejiang FC in China. He opened the scoring in the 19th minute on Saturday — also the very first goal by anyone in the new K League 1 season — and doubled Ulsan’s lead during first-half added time. Lee Hui-gyun put the match out of Gangwon’s reach with his 86th-minute goal. Gangwon only managed a late goal by Abdallah Hleihel four minutes into added time. Ulsan went through two coachin
