not really. I have a really hard time finding news about this kid- this one was just before the UEFA CL which kinda makes sense to include Baek Seung Ho (and Jonathan dos Santos). But all the news I've found happen to be good news.
He'll be promoted from Infantil to Cadete starting this upcoming season. The real battle starts now... BTW, some of the diehard locals are calling him the next Iniesta. Take it for what it's worth.
I hope so. B/c he's got four more years of promotions to go through before he can play w/ the Barca B squad...
Even then, he could very well end up not even playing for the first team. Nolito is 24 and he's still playing for Barcelona B. He'll probably play for Benfica next season. But like I said earlier in this thread, I would consider it a success if he even gets to the Juvenil level let alone Barcelona B. That should be able to get him a contract for a respectable club in Europe.
Infantil A have been competing in the Torneo Reyeno de Leon and they are going up against Porto in the final at 17:30 CET. Supposedly they were going to air the semifinal match today, where Infantil A beat La Seleccion de Leon, but I couldn't find a stream. I was really sad because I was looking forward to seeing Seungho Paik in action. Around the time that article came out in Il Gazetto, I actually asked Marti Perarnau on twitter about Seungho Paik. I had remembered seeing mention of him on some barca blogs and I was trying to get more information. Google gave me very little. Marti Perarnau, for some context, is a respected reporter that has a lot of ties with FC Barcelona. He's recently come out with a book about La Masia called El Camí dels Campions (in Catalan) and Senda de Campeones (in Spanish). The title of the book translates into "The Path of Champions" and I am actually tempted to buy the book in Spanish. http://martiperarnau.blogspot.com/ is his blog and http://twitter.com/#!/martiperarnau is his twitter. He tweets and blogs predominantly in Spanish and sometimes Catalan, but his info is very reliable, particularly given his connections with the club and La Masia and its trainees in particular. I thought I would share the info he tweeted me, with translations. (The original tweets are here- http://twitter.com/#!/martiperarnau/status/60029739733237760 & http://twitter.com/#!/martiperarnau/status/60033273983811584) "Paik: 14 years old, left-footed, very technical, reads the game well, can use both feet. He's still very young, we have to wait 2 years and see." "He is a boy that is very smart/ready and lives with his parents in Barcelona. He is not THE great promise of La Masia but he is a very interesting midfielder." I think given his size and his skills, La Masia is a great place for him to learn, grow and train. If he does in fact advance to Juvenil A next season and succeeds, that is huge in of itself. These next years will be very important ones for him. I will keep my fingers crossed. It's also a lot easier to find Juvenil games online than Infantil games. Cadete games too, actually.
http://www.blaugranas.com/torneo_reino_de_leon_2011-itemap-138-37622-2.htm Raided the forum... asked what they think of him
This is what the ppl on the Barca forum have to say. My translations after having taken 4 years of high school spanish including IB: "It’s incredible how much he has changed in a couple months – now he looks more powerful, and has had games (or plays) in which [something about speed and power when facing the more physical players?] and if this boy doesn’t make it to the first team, “Me corto un pie (which literally translates to I’ll cut my foot off)" Paik, although for now [something about how his physique / physical ability is at fault], has great vision and great technique, [“is going down the right] path”?
Yes, the consensus on the forum is Paik has good technical skills and reads the game very well. Quite a few people remark that he has a very strong shot, despite appearing frail/small. He is not the NEXT Messi or Iniesta as some people have been trying to say. Folks are right to note that it's too early to make such predictions. I agree. I think the pressure is immense and who knows what player he'll be? This is also why I'm glad he's left Korea, in a way. Means he can develop outside of the constant scrutiny of Korean media. They're mostly concerned about his size. His father is supposedly not terribly small, by European standards, but like I said, a small midfielder with good technical skills who reads the game well, that doesn't sound at all like anyone we know Paik played in a lot of the games and started in quite a few, if the game reviews are any indication. Eat lots of spinach and wheaties, Paik!!
Hahaha have you read through the Infantil A 2010-2011 general thread? That's basically exactly what everyone else has been saying!
Couple things I noticed: He starts basically every single game The attacking trident they used in the torneo final vs. Oporto: Paik on left, Canos center, Meva right (Canos and Meva top the Infantil A goal-scorer charts, no doubt…). Left?? hmm… His goal tally: 7: one in each game, in order: INFANTIL A 9 SANT ILDEFONS 2 FCB A, 9 – C. Gimnàstic Manresa, 0 FCB 3 - Gramenet 1 23ª Jornada. Marianao Poblet 1, FC Barcelona A 6 Barcelona A -5 - Manresa -0- GIMNÀSTIC MANRESA, 0 - FCB A, 6 Espanyol B, 0 - FC Barcelona A, 3 "…dos de los goles del primer periodo han sido marcados por Carlos Martinez al recoger pelotas sueltas por el área a la salida de corners" He seems to take corners- assisting twice in his first match. One guy referred to him as the korean with the japanese face… hahaha
I don't think he has to worry about military service unless they changed the LCY loophole in the law.
I did read through the whole thread, but I'm also a cule, so I am invested in all the players on Infantil A, not just Paik Seungho. I am curious to know how good his Spanish and Catalan are too. Learning Spanish will definitely help his marketability as he gets older. I found an Infantil A game to watch, hopefully I can see how Paik has been doing. I'd have preferred a game later in the season, I think this is a November 2010 game.