Professional football Pohang Steelers is called the birthplace of ‘Hwasubun Soccer’ by fostering outstanding new players every year.
It is also the background that it was possible to compete for the championship every year or to play an active part as a red pepper powder unit without spending as much money as Ulsan and Jeonbuk, the big hands of the K League 1, ‘Hyundai rivals’.
Another star is expected to be born in Pohang this year as well. The main character is ‘Wonder Boy’ Go Yeongjun.
Koh Young-joon,메이저놀이터 who grew up on the ‘Pohang Youth Line’ that connects Pocheoldong Elementary School – Pocheol Middle School – Pocheol High School, is a 3rd year professional who debuted in the 2020 season.
Born in 2001, the same age as Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), the age under the 22-year-old (U-22) rule applies in professional soccer.
Each club is obliged to appoint U-22 players to expand the range of replacement cards. However, most of them are used as resources to be replaced early in the first half.
However, Ko Young-joon is different. Pohang coach Kim Ki-dong praised him, saying, “(The late) Young-jun is not playing because of the U-22 rule. He is superior in skill. He is a player who can play enough even if it is not a rule.”
In fact, Koh Young-joon, who tasted professionalism with 2 goals and 1 assist in 8 games in his debut season, showed steep growth by posting 3 goals and 2 assists in 32 games in the 2021 season and 6 goals and 4 assists in 36 games in the 2022 season.
[Seoul = Newsis] K-League 1 Pohang Ko Young-jun. (Photo = Provided by the Professional Football Federation)
This year, it is fully hatched from the egg. With 5 goals and 1 assist in 13 regular league games, he is responsible for the most goals in the team.
Tied for 4th in the scoring ranking, if you add just one more goal, you will be tied with last season.
With this flow, it is possible to score in the first double digits as a pro. Ko Young-jun’s goal for this year is 15 attack points.
Koh Young-Jun’s performance is a driving force for Pohang to continue competing at the top this season despite the departure of key players such as Shin Jin-Ho (Incheon) and Im Sang-Hyeop (Seoul) last season.
With his performance in Pohang, he is one step closer to being selected for the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer team, which will open in September.
On the 15th, Ko Young-jun was summoned to the Asian Games team after being called by coach Hwang Seon-hong, and entered the Paju National Training Center (NFC).
Fierce competition with Eom Won-sang (Ulsan), Song Min-gyu (Jeonbuk), Ko Jae-hyeon (Daegu), Cho Young-wook (Gimcheon) and European-style Lee Kang-in is expected, but judging from his performance so far, his competitiveness seems sufficient.