Koreans in Europe: Hong Hyun-seok gets assist as Gent beat Charleroi 5-0

KAA Gent's Hong Hyun-seok [AFP/YONHAP]

KAA Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok assisted his team’s last goal in a 5-0 win against Charleroi on Sunday.

The Belgian Pro League match at Ghelamco Arena in Ghent, Belgium quickly became a one-sided affair after Matias Fernandez-Padro opened the scoring in the 38th minute.

Omri Gandelman scored another goal in the 41st minute, followed by three more goals in the 48th, 55th and 67th minute that sealed the team’s 5-0 victory.

Hong’s assist for Gandelman’s last goal was the 24-year-old midfielder’s fourth league assist this season, on top of four goals in 20 league fixtures.

Hong enjoyed an impressive debut season with Gent last season, scoring nine goals and recording 11 assists across all competitions.

Sunday’s assist comes right before he leaves for national team duty starting this week, during which Korea will face Thailand in two 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Playing as a central midfielder, Hong has made constant appearances with the senior national team since winning a gold medal with the U-24 team at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October last year.

He made it onto the national team final roster for the AFC Asian Cup that ended last month, during which he appeared in five out of six games in total.

For the upcoming qualifiers, interim manager Hwang Sun-hong, who took charge after Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked last month, called up regular midfield picks like Hwang In-beom of Red Star Belgrade and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who both scored a goal over the weekend.

A star-studded squad of Korean footballers will play the first match against Thailand at home on March 21, followed by the away match on March 26.

It will be interim manager Hwang’s first time managing the senior national team.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]