[마이데일리 = 이현호 기자] Oh Hyeon-kyu (21, Suwon Samsung) is a player that coach Paulo Bento has observed for a long time.
Coach Tae-wook Choi, who directed the Korean national soccer team with Bento, appeared on ‘Richun-soo’, which was released on the 21st, and said, “Coach Bento selected 85 to 90 entries before selecting players. He did not select new players right away, but put them in the 90-man roster first and watched them for more than six months,” he explained.
A typical example is Oh Hyun-gyu. Coach Tae-wook Choi said, “Right before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Oh Hyun-kyu was selected as a reserve member. Director Bento has been watching Oh Hyun-gyu since his days as managing director of Kim Cheon,” he added. Oh Hyun-kyu is a striker who returned to the Suwon Samsung team after being discharged from Gimcheon Sangmu on November 27, 2021.
The first time Oh Hyun-kyu was selected for the national team was the game against Iceland in early November 2022. Oh Hyun-gyu played in one A match and was selected as a reserve member for the Qatar World Cup and boarded a plane to Qatar. He was ‘surprisingly selected’ from the outside, but not from the inside. According to Coach Choi, coach Bento has observed Oh Hyun-gyu for more than a year.
Oh Hyun-kyu is a player whose chances of advancing to Europe after the World Cup in Qatar have increased. Although he was not an official member, he could not play in the World Cup finals, but love calls are pouring in from various places. Among them, Celtic, a prestigious club in Scotland, is the most active.
Britain’s ‘Sky Sports’ said on the 21st (Korean time), “Celtic is trying to complete the recruitment of Oh Hyun-kyu. He announced that Oh Hyun-kyu’s advance into Europe was imminent. Local media said, “Celtic had been watching Oh Hyun-kyu before the World Cup in Qatar.”
An official from Suwon Samsung said, “Celtic sent Oh Hyeon-gyu a proposal four times. I paid a very high price for this offer. During the Lunar New Year holidays, a decision will be made on whether or not to transfer Oh Hyun-kyu,” he said, adding, “If the Celtic transfer is decided, I will leave Geoje training camp and leave for Scotland.”
Currently, there are six Japanese players in the Celtic squad. Forwards Maizen Maeda and Kyōgo Furuhashi, midfielders Leo Hatate, Tomoki Iwata and Yosuke Ideguchi, and defender Yuki Kobayashi are in the Celtic first team. If Oh Hyun-gyu is added to this, a total of 7 Asian players will eat rice in one pot at Celtic.
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Reporter Hyunho Lee [email protected]
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