The Busan I'Park Under-17 Youth Team (Gyeongseong High School) won the second place at the K-League International Youth Cup Incheon 2024. As they advanced to the finals, they had an eye on winning the title but lost to Spain's Espanyol in the finals. "I feel like I had a really good experience. They were such a good team," said Choi Kwang-hee, head coach of the Busan Under-17 team, who applauded to Espanyol first.토토사이트
The Busan Under-17 team, led by head coach Choi Kwang-hee, lost to Espanyol 0-3 in the final match of the tournament held at Incheon Munhak Main Stadium on Sunday. The Busan Under-17 team, which had been on the defensive since the beginning of the game, lost one goal in the first half and two goals in the second half in succession before bending its head down. After their failure to win the title was confirmed, some players lay down on the ground and swallowed their disappointment. Players who were directly approaching and consoling the goalkeeper, who was devastated after collapsing.
After the award ceremony, Choi Kwang-hee, the coach, neatly accepted the result, saying, "They were a great team as expected." "The opponent team was not just good in terms of technology. When I saw the previous games, I felt that the pressure, advancement speed, and struggle were good, but it was even better after the game," Choi said. "The players also felt that the intensity and tempo of pressure were different during the game. It was a really good experience."
In addition to the score, the Busan Under-17 team struggled with Espanyol's strong pressure and well-organized pass soccer throughout the match. Choi said, "I think there is a big difference in experience. In fact, the intensity of pressure in the game is important for Korean teams, so when they go to the competition, there are parts that they do to bring results in different directions," and added, "But rather than that, European teams consistently take their direction, plans, style and philosophical parts throughout the game. Throughout the 70 minutes, I felt that they were taking the direction they wanted."
"It feels different to use strength. I'm not talking about power or physical force, but the process of competing with the ball in the center and the process of following it when moving the ball were different. In the end, I think the management and focus are different," he said. "When the game is going well, if Korea feels like overdoing it, European teams maintain it. Korea falls when the game is not going well, but the opponents feel like they are pulling each other out. There are differences in physical and mental aspects as well. There are differences in concentration and feeling toward soccer."
In fact, the contents and results of the game were clearly felt as a difference in skills. Coach Choi Kwang-hee also confessed honestly, "It would be a shame if the final match against Espanyol was a close match or lost at a similar level, but I felt that it was 'different from us.'" It was the same reason that he comforted the players, who were disappointed after the game, saying, "Don't lower your head."
Coach Choi Kwang-hee said, "After the game, there were some areas where the kids were disappointed and disappointed. Still, don't lower your head, and I told them that they did well enough in the areas where they came to the finals." Since the opponent was a better team than us, we asked them to set a direction to move forward based on their experiences and lessons learned from the team that did not bring results. I said, "Don't lower your head, let's raise your head and congratulate your opponent on winning Espanyol." Teaching about sportsmanship, which recognizes the results and applauds the opponent, was also a more important value than the fruits of winning the championship at this age.
Regardless of the result, it was also a very big event that they won through the K-League International Youth Cup, which they first participated in. "We have to experience this a lot in the future," Choi said. "It was a great experience for me and the kids because their play styles, philosophy, and pressure intensity from different physical characteristics were so different. It helped me a lot in that regard," Choi said. "Tactical parts can be accessed and viewed through the media, but in the end, there are many things that children experience through their body."
It was of course a great help not only to the players but also to the "leader" Choi Kwang-hee. "I learned a lot, too. Not to mention the playing styles of other teams, the leaders of foreign teams learned how to coach on the bench, how to communicate with players and how to implement them on the field," Choi said with a smile. "Japan, Spain, and Germany were different, which helped me a lot." It was also in line with the purpose of the competition, which was designed to gain diverse experiences through matches with overseas teams and to enhance the international competitiveness of K-League youth.
The K-League International Youth Cup, which marks its second anniversary this year since it was first held last year, is hosted by the Professional Football Federation, which has been considering promoting international exchanges among K-League youth. Six Korean teams, including Busan, FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Jeonbuk Hyundai, Incheon United and Bupyeong High School, and six foreign teams, including Espanyol, Real Sociedad (Spain), Augsburg (Germany), Everton (England), Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), and Shandong Taishan (China), participated.
The tournament, which opened on the 28th of last month, was divided into two groups of six teams and ended with the final match on the 4th between Busan and Espanyol, which ranked first in each group. Following last year's Anderlecht (Belgium), Espanyol won the title this year, and the overseas invitation team won the title for the second consecutive time.