Bae Joon-ho (20-Daejeon Hana Citizen), who has grown into a K League representative, has been praised by world-renowned club Atletico Madrid (Spain). Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone (Argentina) and Antoine Griezmann (France) gave him a thumbs-up after the first match of the ‘Coupang Play Series’ between Team K League-Atletico Madrid at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 26th.
Bae started and played 45 minutes in the Team K League-Atletico Madrid match. Wearing the number 33 shirt, he was the youngest of the 22 starters for both teams on the day, but he moved confidently between the left flank and center.
There were many other stars of Team K-League’s 3-2 victory, including Lee Chang-geun (Daejeon Hana), who made a number of saves, and Gerso (Incheon United), who changed the course of the game with a late penalty kick and assist on Lee Soon-min’s (Gwangju FC) game-winning goal. But Simeone and Griezmann took note of Bae Jun-ho. “I was impressed with the way the number 33 played on the attacking line,” Simeone said. Griezmann also praised the player, saying, “The way he moved between the left flank and the center stood out.” He encouraged Bae and exchanged jerseys after the game.
Bae played a key role in South Korea’s fourth-place finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 in Argentina last month. He has also established himself in the K League 1 this season. He has many similarities to Yang Hyun-joon (21-Celtic) and Cho Kyu-sung (25-Mitwillan), who both made their mark in the Team K League-Tottenham Hotspur (England) match last year. In that game, Yang showed off some impressive dribbling against the Tottenham defense. His performance against Tottenham led to a call-up to the national team under former coach Paulo Bento (Portugal) and a move to Celtic (Scotland) this summer. Cho Kyu-sung also rattled the net against Tottenham, signaling a move to Europe. For Bae, the Atletico Madrid game could be a springboard to further growth. 꽁머니
However, he still has a lot to work on. “We could see his strengths at the U-20 World Cup, but he looked a bit shaky that day,” said Hong Myung-bo, 54, head coach of Team K League. Bae Jun-ho also said, “The quality of world-class players was much different from the opponents we faced at the U-20 World Cup. We need to work harder,” he said.