Moving on, Korean national team goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo will get a second chance to play against Tottenham after being voted into the team, as will new Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors signing Lee Seung-woo, who has found fantastic form in the K League this year (10 goals, two assists). Rounding out the fan-voted returnees, Ulsan HD striker Joo Min-kyu will also face Spurs for a second time.
In defence, Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) and Choi Jun (FC Seoul) will get their first chances to play a part in the all-star game, after wracking up plenty of playing time across 2024 in club competition.
In midfield, Lee Dong-gyeong is more than worth keeping an eye on, his eight goals and five assists this year highlighting an immense campaign of consistently strong form at both Ulsan HD and now Gimcheon Sangmu. 23-year-old Jeong Ho-yeon will make for an intriguing watch at the centre of the park too, as he comes into this game on the back of captaining Gwangju FC for the first time in 2024.
However, it is perhaps the forwards selected to play a part this year that are most intriguing. In addition to the aforementioned Lee Seung-woo, Jeong Jae-hee (Pohang Steelers) enters the squad with eight goals and two assists for the year, and FC Seoul striker Stanislav Iljutcenko boasts 12 goals and five assists as his club look to finish inside the top half. Additionally, Daejeon Hana Citizen youngster Yoon Do-young should get a chance to impress here, after starting to make inroads into the Purples’ first team recently.
With that being said, a lot of attention will be directed towards Gangwon FC’s Yang Min-hyuk, a player who will move to Tottenham Hotspur after the 2024 K League season. On the back of three consecutive Young Player of the Month accolades, the 18-year-old winger has scored three goals and assisted one in his last two games, emphasising continuous improvements that have seen him grow in confidence, and in turn, become a focal point of the Bears’ attack.
The Opponents
Under the management of Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham finished fifth in the Premier League last season, securing them Europa League qualification in the process. And, with ambitions of improving again in the upcoming campaign, Spurs have started pre-season strongly, with three wins from three matches. Most recently, Saturday’s 3-2 victory against Vissel Kobe continued an attacking hot streak for Tottenham, who have scored 10 goals across their three warmup games.
Headlining the Tottenham team is captain Son Heung-min, who scored twice against Team K League in 2022, and should relish a test against some of the division’s best defenders, while the likes of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Brennan Johnson are in line to feature.
Also in the squad is 16-year-old Mikey Moore, who grabbed the winner against Vissel Kobe, and has overall managed two goals and one assist over the course of an impressive pre-season. Similarly, teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall are likely to be afforded important opportunities to continue adapting to their new team during the Coupang Play Series.
Elsewhere, fans should be able to look forward to seeing first-team regulars such as Pedro Porro, Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, Oliver Skipp, and Guglielmo Vicario. However, while Radu Dragusin returns to the travelling Tottenham squad in South Korea, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero, and Micky van de Ven will miss the trip after playing in the later rounds of Copa America and Euro 2024 respectively.
Following on from facing Team K League, Tottenham will stay in South Korea for a further match in the Coupang Play Series against Bundesliga runners-up FC Bayern Munich on Saturday, August 3rd, also at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Team K League Full Squad
Fan XI
On July 16th, the Fan XI, decided through voting that took place via the K League Kick app, was announced, containing four defenders, three midfielders, and three attackers. As mentioned before, though, Jesse Lingard and Ki Sung-yueng, who were initially voted in, have since been replaced.
Goalkeeper
Jo Hyeon-woo, Ulsan HD FC
Defenders
Hwang Mun-ki, Gangwon FC
Park Jin-seop, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Wanderson, Pohang Steelers
Choi Jun, FC Seoul
Midfielders
Lee Dong-gyeong, Gimcheon Sangmu
Oberdan, Pohang Steelers
Jeong Ho-yeon, Gwangju FC
Attackers
Joo Min-kyu, Ulsan HD FC
Cesinha, Daegu FC
Lee Seung-woo, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
The Rest of the Squad
Then, to finish off the 22-man squad for manager Park Tae-ha and his assistant Kim Eun-jung, the pick X was unveiled on July 22nd. As for Yang Min-hyuk, he already found his way into Team K League selection in early July, as the Young Player Contest vote winner.
Goalkeeper
Hwang In-jae (Pohang Steelers)
Defenders
Lee Myung-jae (Ulsan HD)
Matej Jonjić (Incheon United)
Park Seung-wook (Gimcheon Sangmu)
Marko Tuci (Gangwon FC)
Midfielder
Italo Moreira (Jeju United)
Forwards
Jeong Jae-hee (Pohang Steelers)
Yang Min-hyuk (Gangwon FC)
Stanislav Iljutcenko (FC Seoul)
Yoon Do-young (Daejeon Hana Citizen)
Anderson (Suwon FC)
Where to Watch
Fans in Korea can watch the game at 8pm KST on the streaming service Coupang Play. Alternatively, the game will be streamed for fans globally on SPURSPLAY, Tottenham Hotspur's own streaming service.
