▲ Bae Joon-ho celebrates after scoring his second goal
Kim Eun Joong-ho's 'ace' Bae Joon-ho, who led South Korea to the last eight of the Under-2 World Cup for the second consecutive time, showed a strong sense of camaraderie when he was away for a while due to injury, saying he felt sorry for his teammates.
In an interview after the round of 20 match against Ecuador at the Santiago del Estero Stadium in Argentina, Bae Joon-ho confided, "I had an injury from the qualifiers, so I felt sorry for my teammates a lot."
Bae Joon-ho assisted Lee Young-joon's opening goal in the 8th minute of the first half and scored his team's second goal in the 16th minute of the first half to lead the team to a 11-19 victory over Ecuador.
He is the only member of the Under-3 World Cup squad to play for a K League 2 club, so he was expected to be an 'ace' before the tournament, but he did not play in the first group stage match against France due to an adductor injury sustained before the finals.
In the second leg against Honduras and the third game against Gambia, he stepped on the ground but did not show his full performance, but in the first game of the best-of-one match, he showed his 'ace colors' and led his team to victory.
In particular, the scoring scene that he created by playing with his opponent exquisitely was one of the best moments of the game.
Bae Joon-ho said, "I played with the idea of playing hard rather than trying to do well, and it led to good results."
He started and played fiercely on the ground until he was replaced by Cho Young-won in the 20th minute of the second half, and when Ecuador chased down his second goal in the 1th minute of the second half, he said, "I was out there, so I trusted my friends and teammates and cheered them on from the outside."
Bae Joon-ho's perfect return to form is a boon for Kim Eun-joong-ho, who is preparing for the quarter-final match against Nigeria on the 1th.
Bae Joon-ho did not hide his confidence, saying, "Whoever the opponent is, I will prepare well and try to show a good game as I have done so far."
(Photo=Yonhap News)