Lee Chang-won-ho, including Brighton transfer rumor Yoon Do-young + Park Seung-soo and Kang Joo-hyuk, announces the list of U20 Asian Cup participants
Feb 06, 2025
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The Korea Football Association announced the list of men's U-20 teams to participate in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup in 2025. The U-20 Asian Cup will be held in Shenzhen, China from Feb. 12 to Mar. 1.
The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, which will be held every two years, will be organized by 16 countries under the supervision of the AFC, and after four teams will play in four groups, the first and second places in each group will advance to the tournament to compete for the championship. The national team will be in Group D with Japan, Syria, and Thailand, playing Syria on February 14 and Thailand on February 17, and the third group match on the 20th against Japan.
The tournament will also be held as the Asian qualifying round for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile in September, with the top four teams qualifying for the World Cup. Korea's best record is a championship, and it has been recorded as the most winning team of all time with a total of 12 wins. The last time he won was in 2012. At the most recent competition, the 2023 Uzbekistan Games, they reached the semifinals.
Director Lee Chang-won revealed the list of 23 players. The roster included a number of players who played in the K League last season, including captain Shim Yeon-won (Daegu FC), Shin Min-ha (Gangwon FC), and Baek Min-gyu (Incheon United). Kang Joo-hyuk (FC Seoul), Park Seung-soo (Suwon Samsung), and Yoon Do-young (Daejeon Hana Citizen), who made a big splash in the K-League last year as semi-professional high school players, will also participate. Yoon Do-young, Jin Tae-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai), Lee Chang-woo, and Hong Sung-min (Pohang Steelers) are also members of the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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As expected, it is Yoon Do-young who catches the eye. Yoon Do-young is a super-special prospect that Korean soccer is expecting. Talent was recognized early on. He also attracted attention as an ace in the 2023 U-17 World Cup, which was full of good players. At that time, big European clubs, including Manchester City, showed great interest. Last season 'High Winger' Yang Min-hyuk (Tottenham) was so overwhelming, but Yoon Do-young's performance was also surprising. Yoon Do-young, who participated in the Coupang Play Series against Tottenham in July last year as a member of the 'Team K League" was praised by James Madison as"Good Player".
Yoon Do-young, who wore a Daejeon uniform as a semi-professional in the 2024 season, started in the 14th round against Ulsan HD, setting a record for the youngest team to play (17 years, 6 months and 27 days). He scored his debut goal in the 29th round against Gwangju FC, going beyond Yang Min-hyuk and recording the youngest score since the introduction of the platform system in 2013. Yoon Do-young, who showed outstanding performance toward the end of the season, scored one goal and three assists in 19 games in the 2024 season.
As they also showed competitiveness in professional programs, Europe paid attention again. During the season, he was connected to Wolverhampton, where Hwang Hee-chan plays, as well as Augsburg in Germany and Mitwillan in Denmark. Among them was Brighton. In the meantime, friend and rival Yang Min-hyuk confirmed his trip to Tottenham. Yang Min-hyuk was recently loaned to the Queens Park Rangers (QPR), where Park Ji-sung played, and played until his debut.
In 2025, the love call for Yoon Do-young became more concrete. It started with a report from 'Dear Athletic'. Dear Athletic reporter Andy Taylor, who is considered the first tier in relation to Brighton, said on the 24th of last month that Brighton is showing interest in recruiting Yoon Do-young, raising the possibility of Yoon Do-young going to Brighton. On the 1st, he even published an article about his imminent trip to Brighton. Reporter Taylor said `Brighton is about to sign Yoon Do-young. Brighton has met the minimum transfer fee (buy-out) clause that guarantees Yoon Do-young's transfer. Yoon Do-young is scheduled to move to Brighton in the 2025-2026 season, the report said.
No decision has been made yet, but Yoon Do-young is expected to play as the ace of the national team for this tournament. Yoon Do-young's value is expected to rise further if she shows good performance in this competition.
Lee, who will lead the tournament, was appointed as the coach of the U-20 national team in May last year in recognition of his outstanding achievements on the high school and college stages as coach of Pohang Steel High School, Daegu National University of the Arts, and Dongmyeong University. Since then, he has conducted two domestic call-up drills and participated in three international friendlies (four Chinese countries, the EOU Cup in Seoul, and the Marbeya tournament in Spain) to identify the team and strengthen his organizational skills. At the U-20 Asian Cup qualifying round held in Kuwait in September last year, he advanced to the finals as the top of the group of four wins. The national team completed its final quenching through off-season training in Thailand from January 21 to February 5.
The team, led by head coach Lee Chang-won, will convene at Incheon International Airport at 7 a.m. on the 10th and leave on flight OZ371 at 9:55 a.m.
◇2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup squad (23)
GK = Kim Min-soo (Daejeon Hana Citizen), Park Sang-young (Daegu FC), Hong Seong-min (Pohang Steelers)
DF= Kim Seo-jin (Cheonan City FC), Kim Hyun-woo (Seoul E-Land), Bae Hyun-seo (FC Seoul), Shin Min-ha (Gangwon FC), Shim Yeon-won (Daegu FC), Lee Kun-hee (Suwon Samsung), Lee Ye-chan (Bucheon FC), and Jo Hyeon-woo (Daejeon Hana Citizen)
MF=Kang Joo-hyuk (FC Seoul), Kim Gyeol (Gimpo FC), Kim Ho-jin (Yongin University), Park Seung-soo (Suwon Samsung), Baek Min-gyu (Incheon United), Sung-shin (Bucheon FC), Son Seung-min (Daegu FC), Yoon Do-young (Daejeon Hana Citizen), Lee Chang-woo (Pohang Steelers), Jin Tae-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
FW = Kim Tae-won (Portimonense, Portugal), Jungwoo Ha (Seongnam FC)
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
