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In a painful 3-2 loss in opposition to Ghana on Monday, one vivid spot for South Korea was the stellar efficiency of Cho Gue-sung, who scored a brace in his first World Cup.
With South Korea down 2-0 heading into the second half, Cho scored on the 58-minute mark with a header from Lee Kang-in’s cross. Simply three minutes later, he soared above the protection for the second objective, this time assisted by Kim Jin-soo.
That is the primary time a Korean has ever scored greater than as soon as in a World Cup match.
Solely three Koreans have extra World Cup objectives than Cho: Ahn Jung-hwan, Park Ji-sung, and the incumbent South Korean captain Son Heung-min, who every have three.
Cho, 24, has solely just lately joined Paulo Bento’s squad by taking part in within the World Cup qualifier in opposition to Lebanon in September of final yr. Whereas he has at all times been a dependable member of the nationwide group, he was usually eclipsed by world-class teammates like Son and Kim Min-jae.
However the younger striker’s reputation has been quickly rising since his World Cup debut final Thursday in opposition to Uruguay, a short look off the bench. The variety of followers on his Instagram web page skyrocketed from round 20,000 to over 750,000, a determine which jumped once more to over 1.3 million as of Tuesday, the day after the Ghana match.
Cho now has 2 million followers as of Saturday, a day after South Korea beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
Previous to Monday, consideration towards Cho’s beauty presumably outweighed his appreciable abilities on the sphere. Whenever you kind in his title in Google, the autocomplete recommends phrases like “kind of girl Cho likes,” “Cho courting,” “Cho marriage” and “Cho Park Web optimization-joon,” with many followers evaluating his seems to the Korean actor Park.
However Cho has confirmed again and again his presence within the area. He performed a vital function in Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors profitable the Ok League championship and the Korean FA Cup in 2020. In 2022, he was named to the Ok-League Greatest XI and was the league’s prime scorer.
After Monday’s heroics he’s establishing himself as one of the vital distinguished younger gamers in South Korea, regardless of not taking part in in a high-profile European league.
One other factor that stands out about Cho is his humility. Regardless of the one Korean to attain up to now in Qatar, his first phrases after Monday’s defeat was, “I apologize to the followers who stayed up late (in South Korea) to observe the sport.”
“I used to be simply an insignificant participant, and I can’t imagine I’m taking part in within the worldwide degree,” he added.
The World Cup is usually a possibility for gamers taking part in in comparatively much less prestigious leagues to showcase their expertise to the world. The aforementioned Park Ji-sung, former midfielder of Manchester United and longtime captain of the nationwide group, was picked up by European scouts after his standout efficiency on the 2002 World Cup, when he was only a 21-year-old with little worldwide profile.
Followers of Cho are eager to see if he’ll be capable of do what others earlier than him have finished, and journey his newfound fame all the best way to the massive leagues.
South Korea has certified for the knockout levels of the World Cup, dealing with Neymar’s Brazil within the Spherical of 16 on December 6.
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