Coach Choi shows how it's done at U-17 World Cup

Oh Se-hun, left, celebrates with teammate Park Myeong-su after scoring in his team’s 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Group B match against Guinea in Chile, Oct. 20. / Yonhap

By John Duerden

It was almost too good to be true. South Korea’s Under 17 team has made the second round of the World Cup with a group game still remaining. This has never happened to any Korean national team ― of any age group ― before.

A group with Brazil, England and Guinea? It did not sound easy, but these young Taegeuk Warriors have made it look exactly that.

Beating Brazil was one thing, a 1-0 win in the opening game, but outplaying the South Americans was something else. It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. The last time a Korean national team went to that continent, in June 2014, it returned home with one point and the performances were even worse than that sorry statistic suggested.

Yet here was a Korean team, fearless and fluent, and looking more like Brazil than Brazil. People caution about getting carried away, but if you cannot get carried away after such a display then you should not be watching football.

Under coach Choi Jin-cheul, the team was full of pace, skill and aggression. Some of the performances in the build-up had been mixed and there was not much suggestion that the team would go to Chile and immediately and deservedly defeat one of the teams most favored to lift the title.

Choi, a member of the 2002 World Cup team, has established himself as a coach to watch.

Most headlines were focused on Lee Seung-woo because he plays for Barcelona’s B team, or will do when he turns 18 in January. He was impressive, but midfielder Kim Jin-ya was the best player on the field.

The thing about such good results and performances is that there can be a hangover. The assumption was that after beating Brazil so convincingly, then Guinea would be no problem. That was not the case. In the last minute Guinea should have been awarded a penalty but was not, and seconds later, Oh Se-hun, who had replaced Lee a few minutes earlier, smashed home a fierce shot.

Then came England, Saturday morning (KST). It would normally be a big game but for Korea, it was just a warm-up exercise ahead of the second round. Many of the regulars were rested and the game ended 0-0 to give Korea seven points from three games and first place. England needed to win while Korea did not and it was no surprise that the young Three Lions made most of the running but could not penetrate a Korean defense that has yet to be breached.

Now the hard work starts in the knockout stage ― Thursday morning Seoul time ― although the opposition is not yet confirmed. For such young players, these tournaments are not solely about winning ― it is also about preparing for the future.

Yet, to start so well and then exit in the second round would now be something of a letdown in the short term. In the long-term, however, this will be seen as a valuable tournament whatever happens.

A longer-term question is how many of this team will become fully-fledged stars. Some will, some will not, but it is encouraging that there is genuine talent coming through.

It is perhaps a good thing that the youngsters are so far from home and perhaps do not realize how much attention they are getting and how much pride they are generating.