FIFA has yet to reverse their youth players ruling, but it cannot keep them from participating in tournaments. So when Barcelona Cadete A (‘97) was invited to play in the Trofeo città di San Bonifacio in Italy, along with the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal, and all the top Italian teams, Cadete A brought their banned players Paik Seung Ho and Theo Chendri, as well as Cadete B (‘98) players Lee Seung Woo and Jang Gyeol Hee.
Paik wore the #10 jersey and Jang wore #18. Lee wore #19, the number he wears for every tournament. They haven’t played a competitive match for more than a month, yet they were still fresh and at the best of their abilities.
Despite losing to Milan 3-1 in the group stages, where Paik scored the only goal from the penalty spot, Barcelona managed to reach the final against Inter Milan. Lee was the only one to start, but by the middle of the second half all three of our Korean players were on the pitch at the same time. After extra time the game was still tied 0-0, and in the penalty shootout Barca prevailed 4-2. Lee scored the second penalty, and Paik struck the winning penalty.
At the end of the tournament Lee Seung Woo was named MVP and Top Scorer. The same two awards he won in just every competition he has been involved in (the winter tourney in Italy, the one in Sweden, the Mallorca Cup, the torneo reino de leon, etc.). Except this time he outshined players older than him, even Cadete A’s star player Sergi Canos. It even won him a profile page on this Italian talent scout site titled “Il paradiso dei talent scout,” which is linked in the Trofeo San Bonifacio news page about Lee’s achievements : http://www.trofeosanbonifacio.com/news/lee-seung-woo-miglior-giocatore-del-torneo~124.html
FIFA may keep Lee, Jang, and Paik out of league play, but cannot suppress their immense potential.
Pictures:
Why are the three players banned?
Tribal football is one of the least credible news sites out there (I mean what does banning youth players have to do with Carles Puyol), but it sums up the situation pretty succinctly here
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/after-seung-woo-lee-fifa-ban-more-kids-barcelona-3834651?utm_source=main_feed
Or more detail:
http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/fifa-impide-barca-que-siga-alineando-seung-woo-lee-2320593
As one bigsoccer korea poster said, “Apparently an unnamed club complained to FIFA that Barcelona were violating the the rarely enforced FIFA regulation on transfers of players under the age of 18…Several at the club would qualify but only Lee Seung Woo was ruled ineligible…Club is appealing, we’ll see how this plays out but I can’t imagine they’ll give up easily – he’s just too good to let go”
Another said, “The intent of the rule – not allowing under-18 international signings – is to protect children from being exploited by teams and agents. It is not intended to inhibit the development of young players and destroy their prospects of a real career.” So hopefully they’ll reconsider..
It’s remarkable all three of the Korean academy players were all on the pitch simultaneously! To my knowledge, I don’t believe that’s ever happened in a Barcelona youth game until that final. Then for them to score the PKs, that’s just unreal! Thanks for that report!
…ah yes, I don’t know if someone already did the calculations, those three youths playing at the same time represents 27% Korean representation on the pitch for Barcelona. Sweet mother of the god – that is awesome!