With the national team’s victory over France at the Under-20 World Cup, the spotlight is shining on the players who led them to victory.
Goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong,안전놀이터 already nicknamed “Light Jun-hong,” and big center back Kim Ji-soo are the
France fired a whopping twenty-three shots at our national team’s goal.
Kim Jun-hong’s spider hands did not concede a single field goal.
[Lee Young-pyo/KBS soccer commentator: “Kim Jun-hong, the goalkeeper, is just an alley-oop.”]
The save from what could have been an own goal was so impressive that fans nicknamed him the successor to Lee Kwang-yeon, the goalkeeper who led Korea to the runner-up spot four years earlier.
[Kim Jun-hong/U-20 National Soccer Team: “I don’t think that’s my nickname (Light Jun-hong), but I think the fans gave me that nickname as a compliment, so I’m grateful.”]
Kim Jun-hong, the son of Incheon United goalkeeping coach Kim Yi-seop, credits his teammates for his success.
[Kim Jun-hong: “My dad told me that I did a good job, I worked hard, and it’s just the beginning, so I need to do even better, and through cooperative defense, when the defenders reduce the angle of the shot, I take responsibility for that angle and practice blocking it a lot.”]
Another star in the making is Kim Ji-soo, the big center back who anchors the national team’s central defense.
Kim Ji-soo, who is being watched by Premier League side Brentford, has been dubbed the “next Kim Min-jae.
[Kim Ji-Soo: “I will prepare well for the Honduras match with the same mindset as the first time, so I will definitely try to win.”]
With a passing grade in the World Cup’s most important defensive organization, the team will look to make it two wins in a row against Honduras in the morning to advance to the round of 16 early.