All eyes on hotly tipped Lee as Under-20 World Cup kicks off
SEOUL — South Korea has two Barcelona players in its squad but all the attention when the FIFA Under-20 World Cup kicks off on Saturday will be on the “Korean Messi”, Lee Seung-woo.
Midfielder Paik Seung-ho is highly rated but Lee, who plays for Barcelona’s Under19s, known as Juvenil A, is the one who has the Korean media delivering daily updates on his fashion style and choice of hairbands.
The original Lionel Messi won the “Golden Ball” as the tournament’s best player in 2005, along with the “Golden Shoe” as top scorer, and has been the inspiration for Lee ever since he was spotted by the Spanish giant in 2010 and recruited the following year.
It is not just Lee’s dribbling, the pace and confidence that reminds of the Argentine star but also his goalscoring exploits at the Catalan club. At the age of 13, he was breaking Messi’s records.
Diego Maradona, another Argentine winner of the tournament MVP award in 1979, was in Seoul in March for the official draw for the tournament, and commented on the 19-year-old: “I have heard a lot about Lee.
“I look forward to seeing what he can do, especially against Argentina.”
South Korea has been drawn with the South Americans in Group A along with England and opening-day opponent Guinea.
Sixteen of the tournament’s 24 teams will progress to the second round – the top two teams from each of the six groups and four of the bestperforming third-place finishers.
“A football team has 11 players on the pitch, but in decisive moments, key players like Lee and Paik need to step up and make things happen,” said Choi Kang-hee, coach of South Korea’s 2016 AFC Champions League winner Jeonbuk Motors.
“Lee has the ability to change a game and has the makings of an excellent player.”
The young Taeguk Warriors reached the last four back in 1984 and the last eight twice in the last four tournaments and need Lee to be on top form to, at least, match those past performances.
Off the mark
At the moment, he is looking good. In Friday’s warm-up with South American champion Uruguay, Lee scored the first goal in a 2-0 victory.
“Uruguay are a very strong team and it is good to score against them and good for us to get the win,” said Lee.
“We are focused on the first game of the tournament with Guinea. They have had good results in Africa and we know they are skilful and physically strong. It will be a tough game.”
He does not, however, have a scoring target at the tournament. “If we can stay long in the tournament, then I should have many opportunities to score,” said Lee.
“If we give our best effort and run more than our opponents, there will be good results. We want to go all the way and show what we are made of.”
Lee has been one of the biggest stars in Korean soccer since earning rave reviews for Barcelona.
He also shone in 2014 for South Korea at the Asia Under-16 Championship.
Lee came to attention of the wider world when his recruitment by Barca led to a twoyear transfer ban for breaching regulations on the transfer of minors.
Lee was subsequently unable to play competitively for the club until he turned 18 in January 2016.
That is all in the past, however, and he now has a chance to show fans around the world, and especially those in South Korea, how accurate his moniker is.
“Since I joined Barcelona Juvenil A, my goal has been to make it to the senior national team and Barcelona FC,” said Lee. “I want to challenge myself further after leading the team to a win at the Under20 World Cup.”