U-20 World Cup stars turn focus to club careers

After pushing South Korea to the semifinals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina earlier this month, stars of the underdog team said Wednesday they will now shift their focus to their club careers: in some cases, launching a club career at the highest level on home soil.

The K League organized a joint press conference for four players from the U-20 squad: Lee Seung-won of Gangwon FC, who captained the national team, along with Gimcheon Sangmu FC teammates Kim Joon-hong and Lee Young-jun, and Bae Jun-ho of Daejeon Hana Citizen FC.

Lee Seung-won enjoyed the most individual success among the quartet at the U-20 World Cup, where he was named the Bronze Ball winner as the third-best player of the competition after leading South Korea with three goals and four assists.

Ironically, he is the only one of the four without experience in the top tiers of pro football here, either the K League 1 or K League 2. Lee has only appeared in the K4 League.

Lee’s U-20 teammates offered their advice Wednesday.

“I know I haven’t played much myself, but I just want to say it’s not an easy competition,” said Kim, the first-choice goalkeeper at the U-20 World Cup.

Bae and Lee Young-jun agreed, with the latter adding, “The matches are always intense and they’re played at a high speed.”

Lee Seung-won, who said at a Gangwon FC presser on Monday that his goal was to play five matches in the K League 1 this year, said he is bracing himself for a difficult task ahead.

“I have to make sure I can find my footing as quickly as I can,” he said. “The season is already well underway and I am about to jump in late. Hopefully, I will play well early on and get into 10, 15 matches.”

The four players said getting on their unexpected run to the final four at the World Cup was a life-altering experience.

“We were young and inexperienced, and hardly anyone knew who we were. And we felt this tournament could completely change our lives,” Lee Seung-won said. “We were all determined to prove our worth.”

One of their U-20 teammates, Seongnam FC defender Kim Ji-su, departed for England earlier Wednesday to finalize a deal with the Premier League club Brentford. The four players Wednesday said they hoped they could one day follow that path.

“I think every player dreams of competing in Europe, and I myself want to challenge myself on a bigger stage,” Bae said. “My ultimate goal is to play in the Premier League.”

Kim said he was a fan of the Spanish giants Real Madrid but his favorite player is Marc-Andre ter Stegen, goalkeeper for Real Madrid’s archrivals, FC Barcelona.

“I’d love to play for Real Madrid someday and go toe-to-toe against ter Stegen,” Kim said.

Lee Seung-won named Lee Kang-in, the Golden Ball winner as MVP of the 2019 U-20 World Cup, as his role model.

“I’ve been watching him and learning so much from him since I was little,” Lee Seung-won said. “He’s had so much experience in big matches, and I hope we get to play together some day.”