“It’s a country that has produced top stars like Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, and Kim Min-jae.”
Sergio Rosano Gomes, the head coach of Valencia’s youth team in the Spanish professional soccer Primera Liga (La Liga), made this assessment of Korean soccer at the media day for the ‘K League International Youth Cup Incheon 2023’ at Howard Johnson Hotel in Jung-gu, Incheon, on the afternoon of the 2nd.
“I have a very high opinion of Korean soccer. “It’s just a fact now that the level of Korean soccer has increased,” he said. “They play creatively, they have a lot of players with speed. I think they are the best team in Asia.”
“Especially as a coach of a team in Spain, I think highly of Lee Kang-in. I love Lee Kang-in,” he added, “He’s still a favorite even though he’s gone to another team. I love him a lot and wish him all the best for the future.”
Lee, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG-France), got his start in European soccer with Valencia’s youth team.
Richard Walker, head coach of the Wolverhampton (England) youth team, said, “We had Seol Ki-hyun on our team since 2004. I remember him as a great player.” “Korean soccer is world-class. Now we have Hwang Hee-chan on our team,” he said.
“We also have Ji Min-gyu on the team. He’s also a striker with creative skills, so we have high expectations from him.”
Korean-British striker Jimin Gyu is a member of Wolverhampton’s youth team and will be competing in the Youth Cup.
Real Sociedad (Spain) head coach Asier Eisagirre Rosa remembers Lee as an international striker.
“It’s been 20 years since he played for us, but even since then, Korean players have shown that they are technically at a high level,” he said. “Other managers have mentioned several players, and it shows the quality of Korean soccer that they keep coming back.”
“At the national level, the World Cup is the benchmark. The performance of individual players in Europe is also one of the criteria to evaluate Korean soccer.”
In addition to these three teams, six other teams will be participating in the tournament as foreign teams, including Anderlecht (Belgium), Tokyo Verdi (Japan), and Chonburi FC (Thailand).
Chonburi assistant coach Num Ratchakit says, “Thai players think the K League is the best league in Asia. Some European players also play there,” said Noom Ratchakit, assistant coach of Chonburi. “Thai players dream of joining a K League team. If they reach the level of the Korean league, they will be able to compete with Europe in the future.”
The Anderlecht and Tokyo Verdi coaching staffs were unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
“The J-League used to follow the K-League, and in the last 10 years or so, they have been competing with each other,” said Gozaburo Shigeno, manager of the development team at the Japan J-League Secretariat, who took the microphone on behalf of the Tokyo Verdi coach. “The level has increased to the point where both teams have players who are captains of European teams.”
The Youth Cup, which will be held from March 3-9 in Incheon, is designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the K-League, improve the competitiveness of K-League youth teams and promote international exchange.
Players aged 17 and under, born after January 1, 2006, will compete against each other.
The youth teams of FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Incheon United, Jeonbuk Hyundai, and Pohang Steelers will compete.
In addition, Bupyeong High School was invited by the Incheon Metropolitan Football Association to compete for the trophy, totaling 12 teams. 카지노사이트
