Again 2018?… Will the K Leaguer who won the gold medal start a new chapter in his career?

Again 2018?… Will the K Leaguer who won the gold medal start a new chapter in his career?

22 of Hwang Seon-hong’s players returned from the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) with gold medals around their necks. In AG, a gold medal often led to a ‘new chapter’ for athletes. What will be interesting to watch this time is which players will challenge themselves on the new stage.

The U-24 national soccer team led by coach Hwang Seon-hong rose to the top with a thrilling 2-1 comeback win against Japan in the 2022 Hangzhou AG men’s soccer final held on the 7th. Seon-Hong Hwang achieved the feat of becoming the first AG men’s soccer team to win three games in a row, increasing his total number of wins to six. Upon returning home, the national team raised the slogan, ‘A new golden age of Korean soccer.’먹튀검증

In AG, you must wear a gold medal to receive special military service. Of the 22 members of Hwangseonhongho, 20 had not completed military service. Of the remaining two, goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon has already completed his military service. Lee Gwang-yeon was exempt due to his injury history. As Hwang Seon-hong defeated Japan, 20 people solved the military problem.

All eyes turn to the players’ future destinations. Turning back the clock, 20 people won gold medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang AG. The biggest interest at the time was Son Heung-min, but players who played in the K-League also took on the challenge of playing overseas in the future. Examples include Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom, and Kim Moon-hwan. They each headed to stages in China and the United States. Hwang Ui-jo, who played for Gamba Osaka (Japan) at the time, also transferred to Girondins Bordeaux (France).

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games men’s soccer round of 16 match between South Korea and Kyrgyzstan was held at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang, China, on the 27th of last month. In the first half, South Korea’s Baek Seung-ho is putting the ball into the offensive zone. Photo = Yonhap News

Will the K Leaguers be able to head to a new stage again this time? First, attention is focused on whether Baek Seung-ho (Jeonbuk), who showed solid performance in the third term, will be able to hit the overseas stage once again. He returned to Korea two years ago after touring stages in Spain and Germany in the past. Baek Seung-ho, who was selected for Team K-League for a friendly match with Atletico Madrid (Spain) last July, said about advancing overseas, “Of course I want to take on the challenge. In particular, he expressed his determination, saying, “I want to go back to Spain and learn a lot.”

‘Second year professional’ right defender Hwang Jae-won is also one of the rising prospects. He provided an excuse for conceding the first goal in the final against Hangzhou AG Japan, but soon showed his presence by contributing to Jung Woo-young’s equalizing goal and Cho Young-wook’s comeback goal. He showed off his aggressive attack power throughout the tournament, and even drew applause from fans with a cool turn move in the semifinal match against Uzbekistan. During an interview with this magazine last August, he said, “I have a dream of expanding overseas, but the important thing right now is Daegu.”

This season, a large number of promising Korean soccer players have already headed overseas. It appears that we are literally at the starting point of the ‘golden generation’. Those who won gold medals at Hangzhou AG are also expected to join this trend.