The future of Korean soccer has taken a special and precious opportunity. It has laid the foundation for growth by confronting foreign teams that are usually difficult to meet.
The K-League International Youth Cup Incheon 2024, which aims to enhance the international competitiveness of the K-League’s youth, has announced its opening. A total of 12 teams from both home and abroad will participate in the competition from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4. Under-17 players will participate in the upcoming competition, and six Korean teams will include FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Jeonbuk Hyundai, Busan I’Park, Incheon United, and Incheon Bupyeong High School. Four European teams including Real Sociedad, RCD Espanyol (Spain), Augsburg (Germany), and Everton (England), and two Asian teams including Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), and Shandong Taishan (China) will also participate.
The coaches of the K-League Youth Team expressed their goals and aspirations to participate in the K-League International Youth Cup Incheon 2024 Media Day held at the Harbor Park Hotel in central Incheon on Sunday. Above all, they expected to confirm their international competitiveness through matches with overseas teams and let players gain more experience.
FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Jeonbuk Hyundai, Incheon United, and Bupyeong High School are well aware of this as they participated in the inaugural competition last year. Suwon manager Baek Seung-joo said, “It is an honor to be invited to this competition. It was a good opportunity when I participated in the first competition last year. By inviting good teams from overseas, players can play against good teams and experience advanced soccer. As for Suwon, middle school players will also participate. I hope you have a good time.”
“Through the competition last year, the players made good memories and improved through experience,” Incheon coach Choi Jae-young said. “I hope they will show better performance this year as well.” “I think the Seoul Youth System is different from other teams. I will try to supplement through this competition how they are doing against European teams and Japanese and Chinese teams in Asia and whether they should grow further in the future,” Seoul coach Yoon Si-ho said.
Jeonbuk coach Lee Kwang-hyun said, “Thank you for inviting me to this year’s event as well as last year’s event. I watched my players grow up through last year’s event. I look forward to playing against competent teams and growing up this year as well. I hope I maintain good performance.” Bupyeong High School coach Seo Ki-bok said, “It’s an infinite honor to compete with good teams in Korea. Regardless of winning or losing, I hope to see my players grow. I will do my best to challenge myself.”
Choi Kang-hee, the Busan coach who is participating in the event for the first time, said, “It is a good experience for players. I meet different players physically. Different cultures and different styles of play. It is a great opportunity for players to grow.” 메이저사이트
Group A and B will be divided into groups. In Group A, Real Sociedad, Augsburg, Kashiwa Reysol, Suwon Samsung, Busan I’Park, and Incheon United will compete. Group B is joined by RCD Espanyol, Everton, Shandong Taishan, FC Seoul, Jeonbuk Hyundai, and Bupyeong High School. Each team plays five games, and the top team in each group will face off in the final.
Seoul and Busan will be ranked first to fourth in the K-League’s outstanding youth club award in the 2023 season, Incheon will be a youth team under the K-League affiliated with Incheon, and Incheon Bupyeong High School will participate as the winner of the 2024 regional competition hosted by the Incheon Football Association.