“How will our game model work against foreign teams?”
If foreign teams talked about human and cultural growth as well as soccer through games in Korea, Korean teams seemed to wonder how the game model and the way they solved the game would be implemented in their confrontation with famous foreign teams.
In addition, young players who will carry the future of the K-League wanted to grow further through games against foreign teams.
Hosted by the Korea Professional Football Federation and co-organized by the Korea Professional Football Federation and the Incheon Metropolitan City Football Association, the “K League International Youth Cup Incheon 2024” will be held from the 28th to the 4th of next month at the main stadium and auxiliary stadium of Incheon Munhak Stadium, Incheon Asiad auxiliary stadium, and Incheon United Football Center.
The tournament, which was created last year, will be held in a way that a total of 12 teams from South Korea and the U-17 overseas will be divided into two groups to play the group stage, and then the first-place teams in each group will play the final.
The matches take place for 35 minutes each in the first half and the second half. Each team will play a group league game every day from Sept. 28 to Sept. 30, while six foreign teams will experience Korean culture on Oct. 1. The final group league match will be held on Oct. 2, followed by the final match at 1 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the main stadium of Munhak Stadium in Incheon.
It is the second tournament this year, but the size and level of participating teams seem to be settling down quickly enough to match any international competition.
For domestic teams, FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Jeonbuk Hyundai, and Busan I’Park, which ranked first to fourth in the K-League’s outstanding youth club awards in the 2023 season, were eligible to participate in the tournament, and the host Incheon United U-17 team and Bupyeong High School, the winner of the Incheon Football Association regional tournament, were also named.
Two foreign teams, Spain’s Real Sociedad and Espanyol, as well as Everton (England), Augsburg (Germany), Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), and Shandong Taishan (China), visited Korea.
In particular, European teams were formed with big league youth teams such as Spain, Germany and England, raising the level of the competition. In addition, prestigious youth teams from East Asian rivals Japan and China have joined the team, ready to compete in good faith with six Korean teams.
From the perspective of Korean teams, there is a lot to gain from the results as well as the contents through matches with European clubs that are rarely met, and Japanese and Chinese teams with similar physical conditions but slightly different play styles.
At the media day of the tournament held at the Harbor Park Hotel in Jung-gu, Incheon on the 27th, Korean team coaches mainly talked about special opportunities to compete with foreign teams. It meant that I was curious how young players would react to soccer.
Baek Seung-joo, head coach of Suwon Samsung, welcomed, “I had good memories last year, but I participated again,” adding, “Because we invited good teams from overseas, the children were able to have good experiences with good teams. As much as the lower grades play, middle school students will also participate. I hope it will be a good time for growth.”
Choi Jae-young, manager of Incheon United, a home team, said, “We have grown based on our memories and experiences from last year. I hope we can show such performances this year as well.”
Choi Kwang-hee, the head coach of Busan, who will participate in the competition for the first time this year, said, “I watched the competition through YouTube broadcasts last year, and it is an honor to participate this time,” adding, “I think it will be a good experience for children. I hope this competition will be an opportunity for children to grow up because other players, cultures and play styles will be different physically.” 안전놀이터
FC Seoul coach Yoon Si-ho said, “It’s my second time playing, and I think our team’s youth system is different from other teams. I will prepare well to understand how to play with European teams, Chinese and Japanese clubs, what improvements to make and what to supplement.”
Lee Kwang-hyun, the coach of Jeonbuk Hyundai, said, “I watched my children grow up through this competition. I will try to grow and maintain good performance by playing against competent teams.”