The final roster to participate in the coming FIFA U-20 World Cup has been announced on Friday by host South Korea.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) said two FC Barcelona youngsters, Paik Seung-ho and Lee Seung-woo, will headline the 21-man roster for head coach Shin Tae-yong.
Paik and Lee will be joined by defender Jeong Tae-wook, who suffered a concussion during a friendly last month but was still able to get his name on the roster.
Shin Chan-woo, Kim Jeong-hwan, Kim Jung-min and Kim Jin-ya failed to make the cut from Shin’s 25-man provisional squad.
“I picked the players based on their talent,” Shin said through the KFA.
“Since we can only take 21 players, for certain positions, I had to choose versatile players.”
“I’m sorry for the four players who couldn’t be with us even though they worked hard with the team.”
Shin has been working with 25 players since 10 April and had four friendly matches before announcing his final entry for the U-20 World Cup.
“From next week, we will improve our ability to execute tactics,” he said.
“We will train on details such as pressing tactics and attacking strategies to dismantle the opponent’s defence.”
South Korea will have three tune-up matches before entering the World Cup. They will first meet Saudi Arabia on 8 May in Paju, before going head-to-head against Uruguay on 11 May and Senegal on 14 May.
The young Taeguk Warriors are grouped with Argentina, England and Guinea in Group A.