'King of Stoke' Bae Jun-ho, fierce competition for the national soccer team's second line 'challenge'
'King of Stoke' Bae Jun-ho, fierce competition for the national soccer team's second line 'challenge'
Blog Article
Jun-Ho Bae (20), who returned as the 'King of Stoke City', is challenging the fierce competition for a second-string starting
position in the Korean national soccer team.
The Korean national soccer team, led by interim coach Kim Do-hoon, will play its fifth match of Group C in the second
round of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian qualifiers against Singapore at the Singapore National
Stadium at 9 p.m. on the 6th (Korean time).
Afterwards, they will return to Korea and play their final 6th match against China at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the
11th.
Ahead of these two matches, Coach Kim made a bold move by selecting seven 'new faces' that had not been seen in the
national team before.
Among them, Bae Jun-ho is the second-string resource with the most expectations.
He played the role of Korea's 'ace' in the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in May and June last year, leading the team to
advance to the semifinals.
Based on his performance at that time, he left Daejeon Hana Citizen and joined Stoke City of the English Championship
(2nd division) ahead of the 2023-2024 season, becoming a 'European player'.
At Stoke City, he literally put in a 'perfect performance' and emerged as the club's top star.
Stoke City were able to escape the relegation zone and remain in the Championship thanks to Bae Jun-ho, who scored two
goals and provided five assists in 38 league games.
After the season ended, he had the honor of being named the club's official 'Player of the Year' by fans.
Bae Jun-ho is evaluated as having all the qualities that an attacking midfielder should have, including passing, activity,
and dribbling.
In particular, his aggressive play, which constantly targets the opponent's back space and creates opportunities through
simple yet bold dribbling, is outstanding.
Body combat, once considered a relative weakness, is no longer a problem. The Championship is a league known
worldwide for its roughness. Bae Jun-ho survived there.
With the addition of Bae Jun-ho, the competition for starting positions in the national team's already saturated second line
is expected to become even 카지노사이트모음 fiercer.
While 'Captain' Son Heung-min (Tottenham) is a regular player, there are many players who have performed well on the
European stage, such as Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), and Lee Jae-sung
(Mainz).
Here is also Eom Won-sang, who is showing good performance in K League 1 Ulsan HD.
His colleagues already acknowledge Bae Jun-ho's skills.
Lee Jae-seong praised his 'junior' Bae Jun-ho, saying, "Considering our age, I think Bae Jun-ho has already surpassed me."
He also said, "I'm looking forward to meeting (Bae Jun-ho). I hope we can share what we need with each other and learn
from each other," pledging to compete in good faith.
Coach Kim expressed his expectations by specifically mentioning Bae Jun-ho. It is not common in Korean soccer for a
national team coach to publicly praise a specific player.
Coach Kim met with reporters at Incheon International Airport on the 3rd before leaving for Singapore and said, "In the
case of Bae Jun-ho, I expect him to show a very good performance in the kind of soccer I want to play through aggressive
dribbling."