'Nice to get back out there': Taggart scores in return to football, League start date set

Declan Smith 1587956330,1588231207

Socceroos striker Adam Taggart has played and scored in his first game in seven weeks as his K League club, Suwon Bluewings, took on K 2 side Seoul E-Land in a friendly match.

Taggart scored the only goal of the game with a header from a corner in the 10^th minute of the encounter, which was played following the K League’s announcement of a May 8 start date for the Korean top-flight season.

The K League is one of the first leagues around the world to set a date for the season to commence or recommence as COVID-19 restrictions are starting to be eased in some countries.

The friendly match provided the first step towards Taggart and Suwon Bluewings’ preparations ahead of a season-opener against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on May 8 in under two weeks.

“It’s nice to get back out there and have a game against a K 2 side - so it was a decent standard game,” Taggart told socceroos.com.au.

“We knew before that game that there was a date to start the K League, which made it a little bit more important knowing that you're sort of preparing for something.

“[The game] definitely had a little bit more of a buzz and a little bit more urgency in your performance and, and to try and get yourself back up to scratch and back up to speed as quickly as possible.”

"You definitely felt a little bit rusty but was I was happy with with the way things went and happy to get a goal."

He added: “Two weeks is only a short time to get ready [for the start of the season]… The date is set now and the first game of the season that we can look forward to”.

For the start of the season, the K League has introduced a series of rules in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing regulations, which can be read here.

The latest information for Socceroos players can be found below:

Adam Taggart (Suwon Bluewings) - K League, return date set for May 8
Brandon Borrello (SC Freiburg) and Matthew Leckie's (Hertha Berlin) - Bundesliga proposed return date of May 9
Mitchell Langerak (Nagoya Grampus) and Thomas Deng (Urawa Red Diamonds) - J-League, proposed return date of May 9
Aaron Mooy and Mathew Ryan (Brighton and Hove Albion) - Premier League, postponed indefinitely
Trent Sainsbury (Maccabi Haifi) – Israeli Premier League, postponed indefinitely
Tom Rogic (Celtic), Daniel Arzani (Celtic) and Martin Boyle (Hibernian) – Scottish Premiership, postponed indefinitely
Milos Degenek (Red Star Belgrade) – Serbian Super Liga, postponed indefinitely
Massimo Luongo (Sheffield Wednesday), Jackson Irvine (Hull City), Kenneth Dougall (Barnsley), Bailey Wright (Bristol City) and Adam Federici (Stoke City) – Championship, postponed indefinitely
Harry Souttar (Fleetwood Town) - Football League One, postponed indefinitely
Awer Mabil (FC Midtjylland) and Mustafa Amini (AGF) - Danish Superliga, postponed indefinitely
James Jeggo (Austria Wien) - Austrian Bundesliga, postponed until at least early May, TBD
Craig Goodwin (Al-Wehda) - Saudi Pro League, postponed indefinitely
Aziz Behich (Istanbul Başakşehir) - Turkish Super Lig, postponed indefinitely
Apostolos Giannou (AEK Larnaca) - Cypriot First Division, postponed indefinitely
Ajdin Hrustic (FC Groningen) - Eredivisie, postponed indefinitely and could potentially be cancelled
Danny Vukovic (KRC Genk) - Belgian Pro League, season cancelled but decision is yet to be fully finalised
Brad Smith (Cardiff City) – MLS, postponed until at least June 8
Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC), Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), Mitchell Duke (Western Sydney Wanderers), Josh Risdon (Western United) and Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) – A-League, postponed indefinitely. FFA recently announced that they would continue with the postponement