Korean national fullback 스포츠중계 Seol Young-woo has advanced to the European league. Hwang In-beom headed to the Serbian league, where he played a pioneer.
Serbian champion Tsurvena Zvezda said on its website on Thursday (Korea time) that he signed a three-plus-one-year contract with Seol. Seol, who achieved his dream to advance to Europe, was assigned the number 66 that Hwang used to wear last season. Hwang changed his number to No. 6 this season.
"Seol had rich experience through the Korean national team and the Asian Football 스포츠무료중계 Confederation (AFC) Champions League. He is the left fullback that we have been looking for," said Mitar Mircela, general manager of Zvezda.
He has a very good impression of a Korean player. Hwang set a good precedent. Last summer, Hwang, who spent 5 million euros (7.4 billion won) for Zvezda, had a successful debut season with five goals and six assists in official matches. He was able to play in the UEFA Champions League as he dreamed of. Notably, he displayed his presence by accumulating offensive points against Manchester City, the defending champion, in the final group match.
With Hwang In-beom playing as the mainstay, 실시간중계 Zvezda won the Serbian league title early on and conquered the cup championship to clinch a double. Zvezda, who won the league title for seven consecutive seasons, secured two cups for the first time in four consecutive seasons.
With such performance, Zvezda was not hesitating to recruit Seol. "Korean-born Hwang In-beom had a great season. He is an exemplary player who is committed to his team and obeys discipline," said Mr. Mircela, who gave high marks to Korean players. "Korean players have these characteristics, which is why we recruited Seol."
After receiving the hospitality, Seol was determined to succeed in Zvezda. After signing the contract, Seol said, "This is my first transfer in my career. I'm happy to be here," adding, "I know that Zvezda is a team with many great players. I want to prove myself, and my goal is to be helpful to the team in defense and offense. I know that my priority is defense, so I will support my strikers."
"I already talked a lot about the history and culture of Zvezda with Hwang In-beom. He told me a lot of good stories about Zvezda and Serbia," he said. "I also know that there are fantastic fans in Zvezda, so I want to play in front of them as soon as possible."
Seol went through the youth courses of Hyundai Middle School (U-15) and Hyundai High School (U-18), and went to Ulsan University. Seol, who joined the Ulsan first team in 2020 when he was a junior at the university, made his name known by making surprise starts through the Pohang Steelers and the East Coast Derby that year.
Seol, who has become Ulsan's all-around player by playing left and right defense, has elevated himself to the K-League's representative defender. He made his debut as a member of the national team through a match against El Salvador in June last year. Following the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, he started representing Korean soccer by participating in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Sul Young-woo, a defender of the Korean national team who can play both sides and display strong attack capability, started receiving calls from multiple overseas clubs early this year. Among them, FK Tsurvena Zvezda of Serbia's Super Liga has been showing keen interest in Sul since early this year. Consequently, Sul will move to the overseas market as well as the first professional transfer this summer.
Zvezda is a prestigious club with 10 wins, the most in Serbia's Super League. It won 10 championships last season, and achieved a double win by winning a cup. It also won the UEFA Champions League in the 1990-91. It also qualified for the UEFA Champions League this season after winning the Super League title last season.
Seol Young-woo also stressed, "I know that Zvezda won the Champions League in 1991. I want to play in the Champions League by contributing to the double win."