Sino-Korean Youth Competition: The Kim Tong-lun Effect Emerges, K-League Clubs “Scout” On Site

From Nannan, reporting in Dingnan, Jiangxi On the third day of the inaugural “462 Cup” Sino-Korean Youth Football Elite Competition, as the match between HSFA Hwaseong and Guangdong Mingtou began, two individuals dressed in Incheon United training outfits appeared near the pitch. They were the club’s youth development director Kim Se-sik and head coach Midal Park, whose purpose was to get a close look at Hwaseong’s number 18, Kim Tong-lun — a player already somewhat well-known in Korea and highly regarded within the four Korean teams. In the first match against Zhejiang, Kim Tong-lun scored a goal and provided an assist, playing a pivotal role in the team’s victory.

Incheon United actually already had some knowledge of Kim Tong-lun within South Korea, and this Sino-Korean competition gave the club an excellent opportunity for on-site evaluation. Youth academy director Kim Se-sik even asked a reporter for the tournament program, flipped to Hwaseong’s section, and repeated Kim Tong-lun’s name three times.

However, their wish to scout Kim Tong-lun that day was unfulfilled. After the match, Hwaseong’s head coach Choi Seong-ju mentioned in an interview that due to injury, Kim Tong-lun only played half of the second round and was not planned to appear in the third. For the January 14th match against Shanghai Port, Choi was considering playing him — but upon discovering that Kim Tong-lun hadn’t even brought his match shoes to the stadium, the two Incheon United officials had to leave disappointed.

In fact, this was not the first time Kim Tong-lun attracted attention from other Korean clubs during this competition. Besides Incheon United, Kim Hae-yoon, general manager of K-League’s Seongnam FC, was also waiting on the sidelines during the second match for Kim Tong-lun to appear. Unfortunately, when he came on in the second half against the Chengdu Football Association team, Kim Tong-lun did not have a standout performance.

Without Kim Tong-lun, Hwaseong’s offense clearly lacked spark. Hwaseong plays a bold and open style, but compared to the Chengdu FA team in the second match and Guangdong Mingtou in the third, Hwaseong’s ball skills were not superior. Especially after Mingtou took an early lead, their defense remained solid, preventing Hwaseong’s left-wing attacker Shin Dong-lun from breaking through multiple defensive layers.

Head coach Choi Seong-ju commented after the match: Guangdong Mingtou players have good ball control, but after losing possession, their pressing tactics were not very effective, causing the team to struggle in dealing with counterattacks.

The 0-4 heavy defeat to Guangdong Mingtou did not shake Choi Seong-ju’s confidence for upcoming matches. He believes facing opponents with different styles offers extremely valuable experience. Choi also noted the extensive coverage of the Sino-Korean youth competition by the publication “Football,” saying, “I saw reports about Hwaseong; in Korea, there isn’t so much coverage of youth football. From these articles, I can sense the great enthusiasm for youth football in China.”

After losing two days in a row, the atmosphere within the Hwaseong team was obviously a bit subdued. That evening, Choi Seong-ju took the kids out for barbecue to lift their spirits with familiar flavors and help them recover after consecutive intense matches. In a post-match interview, Choi also said, “If we can beat Shanghai Port U15 tomorrow, we might happily go out for another meal.”