Young legs prevail as Korean Legends lose 4-3 to U-14 squad

Football

Published: 06 Jun. 2022, 15:02

Young legs prevail as Korean Legends lose 4-3 to U-14 squad

The Korean Legends football team poses for a photo with Korea's head coach from the 2002 World Cup Guus Hiddink, center, ahead of a match against the Korean national U-14 squad on Sunday on an auxiliary pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul. [YONHAP]

From left: Cho Won-hee, Ji So-yun, Lee Young-pyo and Lee Eul-yong celebrate after scoring for the Legends in a match on Sunday on an auxiliary pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul. [NEWS1]

Former national team head coach Guus Hiddink led a Korean Legends squad in a special match marking 20 years since the 2002 World Cup on an auxiliary pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on Sunday, but ended up losing 4-3 to the Korean U-14 team.

Sunday's match came as part of the Korea Football Association's "Football Week," a string of events to mark the 20th anniversary of the Korea-Japan World Cup. A number of the events, including Sunday's game, involved key figures from the 2002 national team, the only Korean squad ever to reach a World Cup semifinal, taking part in the event.

Korea was able to achieve the historic feat under the leadership of head coach Hiddink. Korea finished fourth, after losing to Germany 1-0 in the semifinals and to Turkey 3-2 in the third-place playoff.

Five members of that 2002 World Cup squad took to the field on Sunday — Kim Byung-ji, Song Jong-guk, Lee Young-pyo, Lee Eul-yong and Choi Jin-cheol — with former teammate and Manchester United legend Park Ji-sung stuck on the sidelines due to an injury.

Joining them were five other former national team players — Choi Eun-sung (2001-02), Cho Won-hee (2005-09), Baek Ji-hoon (2005-10), Oh Bum-seok (2005-13) and Kim Hyeung-Bum (2008-13) — as well as former K League defender and current FC Avenir manager Choi Sung-hwan and former Chelsea star Ji So-yun, Korea's all-time top scorer across all levels of men's and women's international football.

Facing the legends was a U-14 team made up of promising young players including Park Jae-min, Kim Ye-gun, and Kim Do-yeon. They were led by former KFA leader Song Kyung-sub.

The game was held in an eight-on-eight format with 30 minute halves.

Just one minute into the match, the U-14 team opened the scoring with goalkeeper Kim Byung-ji unable to respond to the rapid attack.

Things died down after the quick start, until 46-year-old Lee Eul-yong broke through to score the equalizer. Lee Young-pyo and Ji scored the other goals for the Legends squad, but the old warriors were unable to stop the youthful onslaught that was the U-14 squad.

Kim Ye-gun, Lee Si-young, Lee Ji-ho and Jeong Tae-hwan were the scorers for the youth squad.

Hiddink later discussed Korean football in depth in an event held after the game.

“It was difficult [back in 2002], but I think we were able to succeed because the KFA accepted many of my requests and helped me,” Hiddink recalled at an event after the match.

“In particular, we were able to do long-term training and play many friendlies against strong teams.”

Hiddink also answered questions on what his focus was for the 2002 World Cup.

"It was mental strength and physical strength,” answered Hiddink. “Korean players have strong mental strength, but they were often intimidated by the physical difference with their opponents before the match. I tried to relieve them of that burden and tell them that they were strong enough to win. We were able to overcome that physical problem through constant training."

In fostering young players, Hiddink emphasized the importance of an environment that can develop through mistakes.

"In Korea, young players are often put under pressure to achieve a certain goal and undergo training not suitable for their age. When I first came to Korea, I was shocked by how pressured the youth players were. We need to allow young players to make mistakes and create an environment where they can learn through making mistakes."

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]