South Korea and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has taken Stoke City star Bae Junho under his wing on international duty#
Bae Junho started his first international camp with the senior South Korea team with a bit of imposter syndrome and feeling like he was meeting a celebrity when he trained with Son Heung-min.
He ended it with the match ball presented to him after scoring on his debut and a message written on it by captain Son that he is “the future of Korean soccer”.
It has been a remarkable 12 months or so for Junho, aged 20, who came to attention at the under-20s World Cup, made a transfer to England and ended up as Stoke City’s player of the season. He won a first senior call-up in May and scored in a thrashing of Singapore before making a cameo appearance in Seoul against China.
The results booked South Korea a place at the 2027 World Cup and in the next stage of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup – and the new man on the scene has been a big hit with supporters and teammates.
He told the local press: “My confidence has definitely grown. Training with these players and playing at a high level gave me a sense of how competitive I was.
“In the changing room, my teammates signed the ball, and the last one (Son) Heung-min gave it to me. I was grateful that Heung-min wrote, ‘The future of Korean soccer.’”
Son has also made a public personal intervention over the last few days to urge fans to not heap too much pressure on Junho.
