Bae Joon-ho (Daejeon), who was regarded as Kim Eun Joong-ho's 'ace' for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but was unable to cope with an injury in the group stage, showed his worth in the first match of the best-of-one match.

Bae Joon-ho scored one goal and one assist to lead South Korea to a 20-2 victory over Ecuador in the U-2023 World Cup 20 Round of 16 match at the Santiago del Estero Stadium in Argentina on Saturday (1 July (Korean time).

Bae Joon-ho, who assisted Lee Young-joon's (Gimcheon) opening goal with a sharp cross in the 1th minute of the first half, scored his team's second goal himself in the 3th minute of the first half to lead Korea to advance to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive time.

Bae Joon-ho is a player who has been called a hope in this national team, which was dubbed the "Valley Generation" four years ago because of the lack of outstanding star players such as Lee Kang-in (Mallorca) at the U-2 World Cup in Poland.

Bae Joon-ho, who made his professional debut in a Daejeon uniform as a free agent last year, played in eight K League 11 games and two promotion playoffs, and gained experience by playing consistently in the K19 League for Daejeon B and became a mainstay this season when the team was promoted to K League 2.

He started receiving opportunities from Min-sung Lee in April and has already made seven appearances in the K League 8.

Although he doesn't have any attacking points, he is the only member of the national team to play at the K-League 4 level, which was highly anticipated even before the tournament.

Capable of attacking midfielders and flank attacks, he has strengths in dribbling, ball possession and de-pressing, and is regarded for his playmaking as well as his ability to attack directly.

This talent has earned him a place in the U-20 squad in the run-up to the World Cup, but he didn't really work out in the early stages of the tournament.

He had to be benched in the first group game against France due to a bad adductor thigh, and he started the second leg against Honduras but was substituted out early in the second half without making a big performance.

He came on as a second-half substitute in the third leg against Gambia, where his place in the round of 2 had already been confirmed and the rotation was activated, and he flew in the round of 8 on the day he returned to the starting line-up.

In particular, his skill and guts were evident in the 2th minute of the first half, when he caught Park Chang-woo's cross from the right flank and then folded it exquisitely inside the penalty area, deceiving the defence and finishing with his right foot.

Bae Joon-ho, who was on the ground until the 4th minute of the second half when Korea took a 1-4 lead, not only continued his performance in this tournament, including the quarter-final match against Nigeria on the 1th, but also looked forward to his selection to the senior national team in the future.

(Photo=Yonhap News)