‘Son of Daejeon’ Hwang In-beom sends a message of support to ‘Future of Daejeon’ Bae Joon-ho.
The South Korea Under-20 Football Team, led by head coach Kim Eun-joong, will take on Italy in the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 at the Estadio Unico Diego Armando Maradona in La Plata, Argentina, on Monday at 6 a.m. ET.
South Korea will be returning to the finals for the second time since the 2019 tournament. South Korea finished as the highest-ranked team in history at that tournament. Drawn in a group with Argentina, Portugal, and South Africa, South Korea finished second in their group and advanced to the round of 16. They went on to defeat Japan, Senegal, and Ecuador to reach the final. The final result was a runner-up finish to Ukraine.
Now it’s Kim’s turn. Kim also reached the semifinals on a roll. After a 2-1 win over France in their first match, they drew with Honduras and Gambia to reach the round of 16 with three wins and two draws. They then knocked off tough opponents like Ecuador and Nigeria to reach the last four.
During their run to the semifinals, many players made their presence felt. Lee Young-joon, who has two goals and one assist in five games, Lee Seung-won, who captained the team and anchored the center of the field, and Choi Seok-hyun, a goal-scoring defender, are just a few of the talented players who will lead South Korea into the future.
Bae Joon-ho is another standout. The 2003-born midfielder joined the Daejeon Hana Citizen ahead of last season. With 10 games under his belt, including the promotion playoffs, he has made seven appearances in the K League 1 먹튀검증 this season. He has been used as a resource for the U-22 team, but hasn’t played much due to national team commitments.
Earlier this season, he was called up for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup 2023. Bae made a good impression during the tournament, scoring one goal in five appearances. Now, he has been called up to the U-20 World Cup. He even wore the number 10, which is a symbol of an ace.
Bae suffered an injury early in the tournament. He missed the first game against France. He made his first appearance in the next game against Honduras, but was far from perfect. However, he started to feel better as the tournament progressed, and he had a great game in the round of 16 against Ecuador, scoring a goal and providing an assist. He will be key in this match as well.