Um Ji-sung (Swansea City) wore a long-time mannequin national flag. Now he has joined the team as an overseas player.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, held its first convocation training session at Goyang Stadium on the 2nd ahead of the first and second rounds of the third qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup.
The national team will play the first game against Palestine at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul on the 5th and then go on the road on the 10th to play the second game against Oman.
A total of 19 players joined the first training camp. A total of 12 K-leaguers will join the team, including Um Ji-sung from overseas leagues, Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Oh Se-hoon (Machida Zelvia), Song Bum-keun (Shonan Belmare), Cho Yoo-min (Sharja), Jung Seung-hyun (Al Wasl), and Park Yong-woo (Al Ain).
Um returned to the national team for the first time in about two and a half years. He made his debut in a friendly match against Iceland in January 2022.
Since then, he has been selected ahead of the upcoming A-match in September. “When I first heard the news, it didn’t hit me,” Um said. “There are a lot of great players in the second term of the national team. I wonder if I will ever be selected, but I remember not being able to sleep after hearing about the selection of the national team at 3 a.m. That’s how excited I was. I think I can work harder.”
Um Ji-sung said, “I am confident in shooting with a one-on-one breakthrough in attack. If I have a chance, I will definitely show it in the game.”
Now he is playing overseas. He left Gwangju FC in the summer transfer market and moved to Swansea City, where Ki Sung-yueng used to be active in the past. He is drawing keen attention as he was assigned No. 10 in the English second division.
It is not easy for foreign players to call up a national team. Many players including Park Ji-sung and Ki Sung-yueng had difficulties in the past due to the 10-hour flight from Europe to Korea.
In response, Lim said, “I’m not feeling it at all. I think it’s because I’m more excited than tired. I want to train quickly and be with them.”
Lee Jae-seong, who was interviewed earlier, said of Hong’s first impression, “I was scared. I heard from other players about discipline and attitude of the players. But they were more considerate than I thought.” 스포츠토토
What did Um Ji-sung think about Hong Myung-bo? “I’ve seen him a lot in the K-League before. He’s charismatic and full of force. I think he’s just cool now that he’s on the same team with our manager,” Um said.
Um Ji-sung, who was born in 2002, is no longer the youngest. There are Choi Woo-jin, who was born in 2004, and Yang Min-hyuk, who was born in 2006. “I’ve been watching a lot of K-League games even after moving to England, and I think I got this opportunity because you showed great performance. I want to get to know each other during this call-up. I may be of help, but I think it will be helpful for us to stay together,” Um said.
Um Ji-sung seems to be satisfied with his life in Swansea City, which he recently joined. He is only focusing on soccer in a quiet city center. “This is an optimized area where we can only focus on soccer,” Um said, adding, “Kyung Sung contacted me and told me the same thing before leaving, and he told me the same thing back then. I am only focusing on soccer because it is just right.”
Regarding the team’s adaptation, he said, “I still lack a lot. I’m adapting. It was my first transfer because I stayed in one team even when I was in Gwangju. It may not be easy to adapt, but I think this is also a process.”
Gwangju coach Lee Jung-hyo had a lot of affection for Um Ji-sung. Recently, he said, “I miss you,” as if he felt an empty seat. Um Ji-sung said, “I’m grateful, but on the other hand, I don’t feel good. I thought I could go out comfortably because I had good grades, but I’m worried because my grades are not good from mid to late. Nevertheless, on the other hand, I felt good thinking that the coach was thinking of me.”
Um Ji-sung is deeply regrettable this year. He failed to secure a berth to advance to the finals at the Qatar Under-23 Asian Cup, a preliminary round for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which took place in April. It collapsed in the quarterfinals to Indonesia led by then coach Shin Tae-yong.
Looking at the upcoming Paris Olympics, Um said, “It was tough not being able to compete in the finals. It was my last chance to compete in the Olympics. It was so hard when I didn’t get a ticket to the Olympics. So I came back to the team and got new motivation and tried to show better performances.”