In fact, not many eyes were paying attention to Kim Eun-joong, who is participating in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Even though he finished runner-up, the best result in national team history, at the Polish tournament four years ago, he did not receive much attention until he unexpectedly defeated France in the first match of the group stage. It was because there was no star player like Lee Kang-in (Mallorca) that received much attention. There was also an evaluation of this national team, saying that it was a ‘valley generation’.
However,스포츠토토 the national team changed their gaze by advancing to the semifinals of the U-20 World Cup once again. Through the tournament, we were able to get a glimpse of the next generation of Korean soccer stars following Lee Kang-in.
Lee Seung-won (Gangwon), the captain of the national team, who showed his presence through this tournament, follows the path of Lee Kang-in. Wearing the uniform number 8, he participated in both the group stage and the semifinals, serving as a strong support for the national team as the captain. In the semifinal against Italy, he succeeded in scoring a penalty kick, increasing the number of attack points in this tournament to six (two goals, four assists). It is the same number of attack points posted by Lee Kang-in, who won the Golden Ball, the MVP award in Poland. There is still a 3rd and 4th place match against Israel, so there is a good chance of surpassing Lee Kang-in’s record. All of Lee Seung-won’s assists were made as a set-piece kicker, and through this tournament, he quickly became known as a ‘dead ball specialist’.
Lee Seung-won is a member of the Gangwon B team and has yet to make his K-League debut. However, he has been trusted by coach Kim since his days at Dankook University and has been consistently selected for the national team, earning him enough trust to be appointed as captain.
If Lee Seung-won’s performance was unexpected, Bae Jun-ho (Daejeon)’s performance was predicted to some extent. Most of the players in the national team have not been able to play in their team, so their performance has been poor, but Bae Jun-ho is steadily gaining opportunities in Daejeon, which belongs to the K-League 1.
Although he hesitated in the beginning due to an injury suffered before the opening of the tournament, he paid for his name with one goal and one assist in the round of 16 against Ecuador. Ahead of the semi-finals, FIFA pointed out as a player to be expected to play in the semi-finals. Bae Jun-ho neutralized the defenders with his unrivaled skills on the left flank. Lee Seung-won’s penalty kick was also induced by Bae Jun-ho, and Italian fouls to block Bae Jun-ho followed one after another. Italian coach Carmine Nunziata recalled Bae Jun-ho after the game and said, “Player 10 was particularly good. He is a great player,” he praised.