Bae Junho could miss vital Stoke City games in bid for Olympics qualification
News from the bet365 Stadium as South Korea coach hopes for permission to play Bae Junho next month
Bae Junho has been called up for South Korea under-23s squad for a tournament this month – and could miss Stoke City action next month to help secure a place at the Olympics.
The 20-year-old Stoke playmaker has received his first summons at this age group, having helped his country reach the under-20s World Cup semi-finals last year. He will be heading to Saudi Arabia during the international break for the West Asian under-23s Championship, which starts with a game against Thailand on March 20. There will be three games each to decide the rankings of all eight teams involved.
This squad is also hoping to make it to the Olympics for a 10th time in a row and 16 teams will take part in the under-23s Asian Cup, the final qualification round for Paris 2024, in April in Qatar. The top three will advance directly to Paris while the fourth-placed team will have a play-off against the fourth-placed team from the African qualifiers.
South Korea are in Group B and faces the UAE, China and Japan on April 16, 19 and 22 and the knock-out stages run until May 3. That could see Junho miss Stoke’s final three games of the season as they fight for their lives in the Championship.
As an extra narrative to this story, a medal of any colour at the Olympics earns an exemption from the requirement for every South Korean male to undertake 20 months of military service, which has to start by the time they reach 28.
Coach Hwang Seon-hong said: “After completing training camp in Turkey early this year, I went to Europe and communicated with the clubs of overseas players. Although variables may arise due to team circumstances, we have basically received the teams’ permission for Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic), Bae Junho, and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford) to be selected for the Olympic qualifiers.”
