“Seungho, just do what you want to do. There’s nothing to worry about. 온라인바카라 Just have fun playing soccer.”
This is how Baek Seung-ho (26, Jeonbuk), captain of the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer team, ended his personal blog written last June. In a blog titled ‘I Remember My Teenagers’, I talked about how difficult it was for a promising teenager in middle school to receive public attention and media criticism. He stayed away from the Internet and avoided interviews. Baek Seung-ho confessed that he grew up early in his stressful life where he had to be careful about what he said and did. In June 2019, after making his international debut against Iran, he shed tears while talking about his mother. You can get a glimpse of how much pain Baek Seung-ho and his family have gone through.
Baek Seung-ho went through many hardships at the age of 26. After attending Daedong Elementary and Maetan Middle School and joining FC Barcelona’s youth team in 2010, the first thing I heard was, ‘Let’s change your position from attacker to midfielder.’ For Baek Seung-ho, who likes to dribble and is good at scoring goals, it was like a lightning strike. In 2013, when he was adapting to the role of ‘midfielder Baek Seung-ho’ with confidence, he was banned from participating in official competitions by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). The reason is that when recruiting a foreign player under the age of 18, he violated the rule that he must live with the players’ parents locally. Because of this, Baek Seung-ho, along with Lee Seung-woo and Jang Gyeol-hee, who grew up together in Barcelona, were unable to participate in official competitions until 2016. He lost three years during the most critical period of his development. Then, at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in their country, they were completely defeated by Portugal and were eliminated early in the round of 16, leaving them in tears. I remember this as a tournament where I felt my ‘lack of professional experience’ again.
Baek Seung-ho, whose disciplinary action was lifted, played for the Barcelona B team for a short period of time, but was unable to make his first-team debut and moved to Girona in 2017. He was twenty-one years old and only made his official debut on the Spanish adult stage in January 2019. Coincidentally, his opponent on his Spanish Primera Liga debut was Barcelona. Baek Seung-ho showed off his talents as a promising player at Girona and Darmstadt (2019-2021).
The ordeal is not over. Baek Seung-ho repeatedly fell from the horse due to injuries at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He watched from afar as his peers grew up by playing an active role on the international stage and received special treatment for military service. In the process of returning to the K League in Europe in 2021, he was involved in a controversy over violating the agreement with Suwon Samsung. He never relaxed through the process of growing up or joining the team. After being left out of the final list for the Tokyo Olympics, I composed myself by saying, “When something ends, there is a new beginning. It’s always been that way, and it’s a day I don’t want to forget again.”
Baek Seung-ho, who experienced growing pains at a young age, showed signs of revival after joining Jeonbuk. Under the full confidence of former Jeonbuk coach Kim Sang-sik, he quickly emerged as the best midfielder in the league. Based on these performances, he established himself as a regular in the national team, and participated in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, scoring a goal with a cool mid-range gun in the round of 16 against Brazil.
Baek Seung-ho, now 26 years old, was selected as the first successful candidate for the Armed Forces Athletic Corps this year. The opportunity I had dreamed of came before I joined the Gimcheon Managing Director in December. Asian Games national team coach Hwang Seon-hong selected Baek Seung-ho as a wild card along with Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk) and Seol Young-woo (Ulsan). Not only was he selected as the ‘core of the midfield’, but he was also given the captain’s armband. He held the key to Hwang Seon-hong, who is aiming for his third consecutive Asian Games soccer gold medal. Baek Seung-ho, who left for Hangzhou, the site of the final match, with his team on the 16th with a special sense of responsibility, pledged, “Winning a gold medal can be a turning point.” ‘Crybaby’ Baek Seung-ho now wants to shed tears of joy and joy.