2024-02-25 00:54:00
Bae Jun-ho of Stoke City in the English Championship. Photo = Getty Images
Bae Jun-ho in the game against Cardiff held at Cardiff City Stadium on the 25th. Photo = Stoke SNS
Bae Jun-ho (21, Stoke City), considered the future of Korean soccer, scored his European debut goal six months after entering the English stage. Although the team was overshadowed by defeat, local media as well as statistical media successively gave the team the highest rating.
Bae Jun-ho started in the 34th round of the 2023-24 English Football League (EFL) Championship (Second Division) held at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, England on the 25th (Korean time) and scored his European debut goal. It was his first goal in 26 league games and his fourth offensive point in the league (1 goal, 3 assists).
Bae Jun-ho, who played as a left-side striker in the 4-3-3 model, hit the net in the 41st minute of the first half when the team was trailing 0-2. He received a free kick opportunity, and his teammate Lewis Baker converted the shot directly. Bae Jun-ho calmly finished the ball that the goalkeeper knocked away and went toward the goal. At the moment of the free kick, they rushed to the goal and looked for a chance to score, and their determination to not miss the opportunity was brilliant.
Afterwards, Bae Jun-ho took charge of the team’s left flank attack and showed his presence in both offense and defense. He also led Niall Ennis’ left-footed shot with a sharp pass. However, the team lost 1-2, unable to revive the spark of the chase that Bae Jun-ho ignited by scoring a consolation goal. Bae Jun-ho was substituted in the 43rd minute of the second half and finished the game first.
On this day, Bae Jun-ho converted one shot into a goal. He attempted 22 passes and succeeded in 17, recording a success rate of 77%. Of these, one attempted long pass was accurately connected to a teammate, creating one decisive opportunity.
In particular, he attempted dribbling 5 times and succeeded 2 times. He actively tried to release the attack, attempting the most dribbles at Stoke City. He did not back down even in competitive situations. He participated in 10 ground ball duels and won the ball on 4 occasions. He tried to give strength to the team not only offensively but also defensively, such as by attempting tackles.
Bae Jun-ho of Stoke City in the English Championship. Photo = Getty Images
Bae Jun-ho officially joined Stoke City last August. Photo = Stoke homepage
Despite the team’s loss, rave reviews poured in from the local media. Stoke-on-Trent Live gave Bae Jun-ho 7 points, the highest rating in the team. On this day, Bae Jun-ho was the only player in Stoke City to receive a rating of 7. The media said, “He took the free kick himself, and the reaction in the scoring situation was good. “He showed great skills moving forward with the ball,” he said. Considering that there were four players in Stoke City that day who received harsh criticism of 3 to 4 points, the presence of Bae Jun-ho, who received 7 points, was especially noticeable.
It also received the highest scores one after another from statistical companies based on stats. In the pot mob rating, it recorded 7.6 points, receiving the highest rating in the team. There were three players at Stoke City who received ratings in the 7-point range, including Bae Jun-ho, and among them, Bae Jun-ho was the highest. It was a rating tied for 3rd place among both teams.
The sofa score rating was also 7.4 points, tied for first place in the team and tied for second place across both teams. The WhoScored.com rating was also 7.3 points, ranking first in the team. There were only two Stoke City players, including Bae Jun-ho, who received a rating of 7 points.
Despite Bae Jun-ho’s presence, Stoke City suffered two consecutive league losses and fell into the relegation zone. Before Bae Jun-ho’s goal, the team conceded consecutive goals in the 5th and 32nd minutes of the first half, pushing them to the brink early on, and even after Bae Jun-ho’s goal, they were unable to turn things around. The performance of the last 7 league games is 1 win and 6 losses, with a clear downward trend.
This season’s league record is 35 points (9 wins, 8 draws, 17 losses). In the English Championship, 24 teams compete, and the top two teams are promoted to the English Premier League (EPL), and the teams ranked 3rd to 6th go through a playoff to determine the promoted team. The three teams ranked 22nd to 24th are relegated to the third division next season. Stoke City is dreaming of re-promotion to the EPL again after the 2017-18 season, but instead found itself in danger of relegation to the third division.
Meanwhile, Bae Jun-ho played a leading role in the semifinals of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in May last year, and moved to Stoke City after receiving European love calls based on his performance at the U-20 World Cup. The Daejeon club also willingly opened the way for Bae Jun-ho, who was an ace at the time, to transfer for the sake of his future.
At the time of his departure, Bae Jun-ho said, “I have a strong desire to go and do well because this is the stage I have always dreamed of. He may face some difficult times, but he hopes to overcome them and show many good things. He dreamed of playing on the European stage. “I think it is a step toward the final goal, such as a big league or a big club,” he said. “I wanted to go to a club where I can play right away.” I made my choice because Stoke City actively wanted me. He is not a player who scores a lot of attack points, but now his goal is to score a lot of attack points. He expressed his determination, saying, “I want to score double-digit attack points.”
By accumulating the 4th attack point of the day, he also took on the challenge of having the most attack points in the team. Bae Jun-ho, who left Daejeon Hana Citizen and moved to Stoke City in August last year, played in 26 league games (15 as a starter) and scored 1 goal and 3 assists. Currently, the team’s top offensive scorers are Andre Vidigal, who has scored 5 goals, and three players with 5 offensive points.
Reporter Kim Myeong-seok [email protected]
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