On the 9th, Pyeongtaek Citizens said, “We have recruited Gye-hee Jang. As a highly anticipated player, we are dreaming of a resurrection in Pyeongtaek. We would be grateful if all fans cheer for Jang Gyeol-hee and look forward to his performance in Pyeongtaek. “He said. Pyeongtaek Citizen has been participating in the K3 League under the name of Pyeongtaek Citizen Football Team since 2017, and before last season, it changed to the current club name.
Jang Gye-hee, along with Baek Seung-ho (Darumstadt) and Lee Seung-woo (Portimonance), was once a promising player who was attracted attention as the’Three Koreans in Barcelona’. In 2011, when he was a freshman at Pohang Steelers, the youth team of the K-League Pohang Steelers, he joined the Barcelona youth team, the prestigious Spain’s most prestigious youth team.
However, in the process of recruiting prospects in 2014, when Barcelona was caught violating the FIFA rules of “banning overseas transfers for players under the age of 18”, and was unable to participate properly in team training as well as in official games, and the growth was hindered.
Jang Gye-hee was also steadily selected for the national team by age group, but he was not lucky. In the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup, even though he was on the final list, he fell short before the tournament due to injury. At the 2017 U20 World Cup held in Korea, for about three years, due to the lack of appearances in the team, the decrease in the sense of practice was noticeable, and coach Shin Tae-yong was ignored. Teammate Lee Seung-woo, who was in the same situation, contrasted with his success not only in participating in the U20 World Cup but also winning gold medals in the 2018 Russia World Cup finals and Asian Games in Jakarta.
Jang Gye-hee eventually failed to extend his contract with Barcelona in the summer of 2017 and had to leave without fulfilling his dream of making a professional debut in Spain. Compared to Lee Seung-woo and Baek Seung-ho, who are struggling to continue their careers in Europe, Jang Gye-hee’s football life was more difficult.
Shortly after leaving Barcelona, Jang Gye-hee joined Asteras Tripoli FC in Greece, but was unable to show any performance and finished the contract in one year. In September 2018, he signed a three-year contract with the K-League Pohang Steelers, who can be called the parent team, and returned to Korea. However, even here, he played 16 matches in the R League, a second-team league in 2019, leaving only 3 goals and 1 assist, and suddenly canceled his contract before the 2020 season, and became a free agent again.
As a result, Jang Gye-hee couldn’t even make his debut in the first professional team until he turned 23, at the time when his peers would become an adult player. It seemed unclear whether he could continue his football career as he could not find a new team until the end of 2020. Although it was said that there were various complicated circumstances, it was a very shabby reality compared to what was once called a talent to lead the future of Korean football with the title of being from Barcelona youth.
Jang Gye-hee had a lot of rumors, such as overseas league transfer, K-League retry, and early retirement, but eventually entered into Pyeongtaek Citizen and signed an official contract. Perhaps it is a challenge that could be the last chance in his soccer life for Jang Gye-hee.
The K3 league is classified as a semi-pro league with K4, which is one level below. Although the lift system linked to the K-League 1 and 2, which is a professional soccer league, has not yet been implemented, the Korea Football Association is promoting the establishment of a complete lift system including the K3 and 4 leagues by strengthening the club license system including the incorporation of the club in the mid to long term.
It is also regarded as a’stage of resurgence’ by players who have not been able to enter professional football or have descended from the upper leagues. Kim Do-hoon (Jeonju National Football Team) was called to the national team under the age of 19 last year, and Yu Dong-gyu, from the Southeast Civil Football Team, won the top scorer in the K4 League and recently made a feat of transferring to K League 1 Incheon United. There is no law that Jang Gye-hee cannot do it either.
It is the same that Seung-woo Lee and Seung-ho Baek, who played an active part in the Barcelona youth along with Jang Gye-hee, are also struggling in the adult stage. After Lee Seung-woo left Barcelona, he went through Verona, Italy and Sintetrawidon, Belgium, but continued to struggle with the main battle. Recently, the K-League return was raised, but he decided to continue his challenge on the European stage by relocating to Portugal Portimonense.
Following Girona in Spain, Seung-ho Baek has been playing in Darmstadt in Germany’s Bundesliga since 2019, but all of his teams have not escaped from the second division. However, in recent years, the number of exhibitors has declined again, and the rumor of transfer to the K-League is being discussed.
Compared to the value of the name of being from Barcelona about 10 years ago and the expectations of Jang and Bit during the days of a prospect, it is true that the current address of these three people seems sad. In other words, it shows how difficult and difficult it is to overcome numerous variables and crises in the adult stage, no matter how talented prospects once were.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), who advanced to the European stage in his youthful days and overcame numerous crises and became the best striker recognized in the Premier League. It makes us look back on how great Korean European players like Ji Dong-won (Brownschweig), who are persevering, have been.
Of course, the football life of the Barcelona trio is still ongoing. Just because the reality is not as glamorous as the public expected does not mean that the times they have devoted their dreams and challenges will not be worthless. Only those who are not bound by the past and who are not swayed by reality and who are pioneering new challenges are entitled to open the future. Football fans also cheer for the new challenge of the three members who are still struggling to write their own soccer life without giving up.
☞ Sports news with perspective, go to’Omy Sports’ Facebook