"Son Heung-min's replacement" Bae Jun-ho, another crazy performance → Wedge goal 'Bang'…"I wanted to change the mood"

"Son Heung-min's replacement" Bae Jun-ho, another crazy performance → Wedge goal 'Bang'…"I wanted to change the mood"

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Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City), who is considered Son Heung-min's long-term replacement, also proved his possibility by replacing Son Heung-min in the match against Kuwait and scoring a goal.

At the time of the substitution, he also showed maturity, saying, "I just wanted to turn around the gloomy atmosphere."

The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 3-1 against Kuwait in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Jabeur Al Ahmed International Stadium in Kuwait City, Kuwait's capital, on the 14th (Korea time).
Oh Se-hoon (Machida Zelvia) and Son Heung-min scored consecutive goals in the early hours of the first half, and Joker Bae Joon-ho's net goal in the middle of the second half to defeat Kuwait, which scored a comeback goal in the second half.

Korea had four wins and one draw (13 points) through the victory. In the first match, the team tied 0-0 at home against the Palestinians, before winning four consecutive games. Korea won 3-1 in the second match against Oman, and 2-0 in the third match against Jordan. It had a 3-2 win at home against Iraq last month. Kuwait, which was the first team to hold two consecutive matches in the Middle East in November, also gained momentum by garnering a complete victory in an away match.
The game was not as easy as I thought. The team was ahead 2-0 in the first half, but allowed a run early in the second half, shaking. Had it not been for Bae Jun-ho's shot as a substitute, no one could have known what direction the game would be going.

Bae Joon-ho, who met with reporters in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) after the game, said, "I think it was a meaningful game to play in the game and score an additional goal at a time when the team could be in danger."

"I was confident that (Hwang) In-beom would give me a good pass because he had the ball. So I penetrated it, and he gave me such a good pass as I expected, so I think the goal came out relatively easily," he recalled.

"I was personally frustrated because I didn't have a goal in my team. I'm so happy to have a goal like this. I hope that I can continue my momentum to the next national team game and my team's game," he said.

Bae scored his A-match debut goal in an away match in Singapore in June. He also made an assist to Son Heung-min, who was sidelined due to injury, for the second consecutive game last month. And in this match, he has shown promise as a long-term replacement for Son as he warmed up the atmosphere that had subsided due to runs scored again just before he was deployed.
In response, Bae Jun-ho said, "I thought I should give a lot of energy when I enter the game because I am the youngest member of the team and I am a substitute. I thought I should play a lot and energize the team rather than thinking that I should do well personally," adding, "I felt more important than pressure. I thought that the player who is going to be a substitute should change the atmosphere in such a difficult situation, so I thought I should go in and change the atmosphere." 안전놀이터

When asked what Son Heung-min said after scoring, he said, "He asked if his stake was about 20%. He told me to prepare well at half-time before the game, but in a nutshell, he said he had a stake of about 20%.

Bae Jun-ho, who was seen talking with Son on a regular basis, said, "Since the first call-up, (Son) took good care of me. I think we got closer by talking a lot about helpful words and things so that we can adapt well to the team," and added, "It's a bit far from England, and we've never met separately even in London. He sometimes contacted me to support me or called me after the last call-up, saying that I did well after the game."

As for the substitution on the day, he said, "I only thought about what to do when I entered because I had an important player in my team, called Heung-min, and I thought I could play as a substitute. The coach told me to prepare well because I can go in 10 or 15 minutes after the first half. When I entered, I received a lot of balls, dribbled or sprayed the balls, and told me to be confident."
In terms of Kuwait's performance, Bae gave a high evaluation. "Rather than being an outstanding team systematically, I felt that I strengthened myself in situations where individuals pressure me. I thought I should do well as a team."

Bae also has a good relationship with Lee Kang-in. On the 13th, the day before the game, he took a message of support for the CSAT students with Lee Kang-in.

Bae said, "I feel like I got closer during this convocation. That's why I played pranks when shooting the video. (Lee) Kang-in takes good care of me. He took good care of me both outside and in the stadium, and he played a lot of pranks, so I think I was able to blend into the team well."