The victory of the `Golden generation`

The FIFA U-17 World Cup is a biennial soccer competition for young athletes organized by FIFA. There are the U-20 World Cup, played by males under 20 year old, and finally the well-known adult World Cup. The Korea national team had recorded 4th place in both the World Cup and the U-20 World Cup, 8th in the U-17 World Cup, but had never beaten Brazil. The team gained victory against the Brazil team for the first time in soccer history in this year`s U-17 World Cup on Sunday.

Korea has many talented soccer players among around 17-year-olds. Lee Seung-woo (17), the rising star of the U-17 national team, recently moved up to FC Barcelona B Team from the FC Barcelona Youth Team. Jang Gyeol-hee (17) was also a member of the Barcelona Youth Team, but is unfortunately absent from the national team due to injury. Ahn Jun-hyuk (16, Villarreal CF) and Jang In-seok (15, Malaga CF) are also very notable. Baek Seung-ho (18), who would have been on the roster if he was a year younger, is also a player of FC Barcelona B Team.

The K-league has many gems, too. Lee Sang-hun (17, Hyundai High) amazed the audience with his outstanding skills as he jostled through two Brazil players in Sunday`s match. He is more than a high-school team player, currently joining the youth team of Ulsan Hyundai FC. Moreover, young players around this age are receiving unprecedentedly systematic training, which is all the more reason to believe that we will soon be able to see the most powerful soccer team playing on the field.

This generation of players will mostly turn 20 by 2018, when the Russia World Cup will be held. The soccer world acknowledges those 18 and above as adult players. Therefore, the most brilliant ones are likely to participate in the Russia World Cup if they keep up their skills, and take on the leading role by the 2022 Qatar World Cup. We now have reasons to dream about Korea`s national soccer team finally breaking the record of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, given that the first generation star players who received elite training abroad join the team.

pisong@donga.com