Hwang Hee-chan starting to shine
When it comes to attention on South Korean players overseas, it is natural that Son Heung-min is getting the most.
He is one of the stars of the biggest teams in the most popular league in the world. Just the weekend before last, the forward scored two fine goals as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Crystal Palace 4-0 and there he was again on Saturday setting up Harry Kane to score a fine goal at Leicester City.
Son played a major role in the London club reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League last June though he could not prevent a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in Madrid. Yet as the tournament kicked off its 2019-2020 season last week, Son’s efforts were overshadowed by one of his national team-mates.
Hwang Hee-chan hails from the same city as Son, Chuncheon, and enjoyed himself in his Champions League debut, scoring as FC Salzburg thrashed Genk of Belgium 6-2. The 23-year-old has become just the third South Korean to score in the competition, following in the footsteps of Son and Park Ji-sung, who actually won the trophy with Manchester United in 2008.
Just like his two illustrious predecessors, Hwang has never played a game in the K League. Park went to Japan before heading to Europe after starring at the 2002 World Cup when the Taegeuk Warriors shocked the world by reaching the semi-final. Son went to Germany as a 16-year-old and has never looked back.
Hwang was 19 when he went to Austria and has developed into an interesting player. Already he has played almost 30 games for the senior national team but has managed to score only three goals. That is not always his fault as coaches have been unsure how to handle a player who is fast and full of energy but can be frustrating in his decision-making when he finds himself in good positions.
To play so many times for a European club and Asian country by the age of 23 suggests that Hwang has something special about him. To go to Europe at a young age is far from easy and the recent Champions League performance suggests that the forward is maturing. That is the hope. Hwang seems to have all the ingredients to be a fine player, but has yet to show that for South Korea consistently.
National team coach Paulo Bento must have been as impressed as his club coach Jesse Marsch but there may be more to come. Hwang has been in fine form this season, but he has yet to face opposition such as Liverpool.
Salzburg will visit England on Oct. 2 and will visit the home of the European champion, the team that defeated Tottenham in the final just four months earlier.
If Hwang can play as well against Liverpool as he did against the Belgian team then people really will start to take notice. Before long, perhaps Hwang will be following in Son’s footsteps and heading to England or another one of Europe’s biggest leagues.