The Baek Hyeon Wall
The practice match between the U-23 and U-20 sides was unfolding in a direction no one had anticipated.
The two teams had different managers, different coaching staffs, and entirely different rosters. Yet one fact remained undeniable: the absolute gap in experience and physical maturity between the two groups could not be ignored.
The U-23 players might not have fully hardened bodies compared to senior professionals, but against the U-20 squad the difference was enormous. Most U-23 players had already debuted in the professional ranks and were carving out names for themselves, while the majority of the U-20 players—aside from a few exceptions—had yet to experience even the university level, let alone the pros.
Under normal circumstances, when these two age groups met in a practice match, the U-23 side dominated, racking up goals at will. But not today.
More than thirty minutes had passed, and the score remained 0-0.
The player most responsible for that deadlock was none other than Baek Hyeon.
Thwack! Thud!
Once again he read the passing lane, cut the ball cleanly, and immediately fed it forward into midfield.
“Come on, Hyeon-ah, take it easy…!”
Kang Si-u’s exasperated plea said everything.
From Baek Hyeon’s perspective, however, the current U-23 level felt noticeably below what he had faced at Seongjin Hanul FC. That was not to say the U-23 squad was weak—after all, it gathered the very best Korean players under the age of twenty-three. Yet Baek Hyeon had spent the past months competing against far sharper opponents than most of those players.
Since Seongjin Hanul’s promotion to K League 1, he had faced teams that had unexpectedly surged into the upper table, as well as sides fighting to restore former glory in K League 2. Those matches had been far more intense, and the constant exposure to higher-caliber opposition had sharpened his reading of the game and exposed his weaknesses in real time. The result was a natural, steady step-up in performance—one he was now demonstrating on this pitch.
Thwack!!
Thud!
He cleared the ball Kang Si-u had tried to slip through, then watched the striker stumble over his own feet.
“Si-u, sorry.”
“Seriously… you’re blocking every single pass?”
“…It’s just too obvious.”
“Tch… You’re not wrong.”
The muttered exchange ended with Kang Si-u grudgingly agreeing. The ball was arriving where he wanted it, but never with the quality he had grown accustomed to. After training alongside Cha Jeong-woo’s precise deliveries and Yun Seo-jin’s incisive through balls, the passes coming from the U-23 midfield simply did not satisfy him.
Cha Jeong-woo’s service was still enjoyable, yet there was one glaring problem.
Thwack!!
Baek Hyeon could shut down passes of that caliber without breaking stride. He had seen them countless times in intra-squad matches at Seongjin Hanul, and he knew Cha Jeong-woo’s true identity was still that of a crack-style winger. Converted to wingback, his level was now one Baek Hyeon could comfortably neutralize.
“Whoa, Baek Hyeon’s actually…”
“Sorry, but if it’s that easy to read, what can I do?”
“Haa… At this rate I’m finished.”
Kang Si-u was right. If he failed to beat Baek Hyeon today, the evaluation he received would be brutal. The pressure was beginning to show.
Baek Hyeon, however, was not merely marking Kang Si-u. He was single-handedly shutting down the majority of the U-23’s attacking routes, completely disrupting their build-up play. Unfortunately, whenever he won the ball, the U-20’s counterattacks never quite reached the final third either. The U-23 defense was proving equally difficult to penetrate.
Peep! Peep! Peeeeep!
The referee’s whistle signaled the end of the first half. Both teams headed to the benches for halftime.
Up to this point, the U-20 side had performed far better than anyone had expected against the older, more experienced opponents.
“Huuu…”
“We’re doing pretty well, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. They’ve got Premier League players and plenty of big-league guys out there.”
The current U-23 squad might have been weaker than the previous generation in some eyes, but a closer look revealed several high-quality players. Kim Yeong-jun in the Belgian league, Yang Hyeon-min in Scotland, Eom Ju-seong in the EFL Championship (and a World Cup call-up), Yang Jun-hyeok splitting time between Tottenham’s youth and first teams, and Kim Jin-su at Brentford. Surprisingly, the U-23 roster was stacked with overseas-based talent.
Yet against this side, Baek Hyeon was single-handedly cutting passing lanes and suffocating attacks—an absurdly dominant display.
“Baek Hyeon, what the hell are you?”
“Where did this guy even come from?”
“I seriously don’t get it.”
“Try facing him in K League 2. That guy’s a brick wall.”
Lee Ho-seong, the U-20 striker who had already clashed with Baek Hyeon in K League 2, shuddered at the memory. As a player who had been selected for every national age-group team since U-15, his words carried weight.
“Still, we can’t break through either.”
“Yeah… I don’t even know where to start.”
The players’ idle chatter filled the gap left by the coaches, who had already gathered in a tight huddle of their own. The moment was brief. U-20 head coach Sim Seong-hak soon began outlining the second-half plan.
“There’ll be changes in the second half. Jeong Seung-bin’s resting. Yun Seo-jin, you’re going on.”
“Me?”
“Who else is here besides you? Warm up.”
“Yes, sir!”
“We’re rebuilding the attack around Baek Hyeon and Yun Seo-jin. Kim Yu-hyeon, be ready to drop deeper if needed.”
“Got it~”
Kim Yu-hyeon, the U-20’s ace and widely regarded as the future of Korean football, nodded immediately. The entire squad clapped hands together, suddenly believing they might actually pull off an upset.
“Let’s go! One! Two! Three!!”
“U-20, fighting!!”
While the U-20 players burned with unified passion, the U-23 bench remained relaxed.
“Whoa, those guys are fired up.”
“Should we do something like that too?”
They still believed victory was within reach.
Meanwhile, a heated debate was raging among the U-23 coaching staff.
“I’m telling you, we have to take him off…!”
“The problem isn’t just Baek Hyeon shutting everything down. Instead of blindly substituting, at least change the formation! How many players do we have who can dribble past that kid?”
“For crying out loud, just sub him out and go long!”
“Baek Hyeon’s over 190 centimeters and has excellent spring. How are long balls supposed to work against him!?”
Every time the manager spoke, a coach cut him off with a counterargument. The endless cycle finally broke when the manager snapped in frustration.
“If you’re so smart, you handle it!”
“Ugh… I was planning to anyway.”
The coach sighed heavily, walked over to the players, and began explaining the tactical shift.
“There’ll be substitutions. Jeong-woo, move up to the winger position. Seung-woo comes off; Su-jun takes the wingback spot.”
“Me as a winger? I’m a wingback…”
“You were selected for both positions. If you’ve tried wingback, you need to practice the winger role too. Before Feltner took over, you played as a winger anyway. Plus you’re currently fifth in the K League 2 scoring charts. Right now we need a crack player—and that’s you.”
“…Understood.”
“Good. Now listen carefully to what you need to do.”
After detailing Cha Jeong-woo’s instructions, the coach gathered the squad, perhaps thinking of the fired-up U-20 side.
“Listen up. No matter what, we’re not at the level where we lose to the U-20s. Show them what you’ve got! One! Two! Three!”
““U-23, fighting!””
With that, the players raised their hands in unison and jogged onto the pitch to warm up. Baek Hyeon noticed Cha Jeong-woo’s new position and drifted over to him.
“Jeong-woo hyung, what are you doing over there?”
Cha Jeong-woo answered with the same cheeky tone.
“So the climbing Baek Hyeon can learn a little about hierarchy.”
“Aww, go easy on me~”
Despite the playful words, Baek Hyeon looked quietly tense. Cha Jeong-woo’s full commitment to attack was not good news for the U-20 side.