{"id":29427,"date":"2025-08-28T22:31:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T13:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=29427"},"modified":"2025-08-28T22:31:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T13:31:36","slug":"jens-castrop-earns-first-south-korea-call-up-after-switching-from-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2025\/08\/28\/jens-castrop-earns-first-south-korea-call-up-after-switching-from-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Jens Castrop Earns First South Korea Call-Up After Switching From Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jens Castrop is set to begin a new chapter in his international career, pledging his future to South Korea after previously representing Germany at youth level.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 22-year-old midfielder, born in D\u00fcsseldorf to a German father and Korean mother, received his first senior call-up on Monday from head coach Hong Myung-bo for upcoming friendlies against the United States and Mexico next month.<\/p>\n

Castrop\u2019s selection is historic\u2014he becomes the first foreign-born, mixed-race player to represent the South Korean men\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Castrop is still young, he has shown steady development in the Bundesliga,\u201d Hong said, as quoted from\u00a0Associated Press<\/em>,\u00a0\u201cMost importantly, I value his determination and sense of responsibility in committing to our national team. I hope he adapts quickly and brings fresh energy to the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hong highlighted Castrop\u2019s combative and physical style as a key attribute he expects will strengthen South Korea\u2019s midfield.<\/p>\n

The call-up comes just a day after Castrop made his Bundesliga debut, appearing as a substitute for Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach in a 0-0 draw with Hamburg.<\/p>\n

Questions remain over whether Castrop, a dual citizen, will be subject to South Korea\u2019s mandatory military service. Domestic reports suggest the matter has not yet been formally addressed by the Korean Football Association (KFA) or government.<\/p>\n

While unprecedented in the men\u2019s game, Castrop\u2019s case follows a similar milestone in women\u2019s football: in 2023, teenager Casey Phair\u2014born in the U.S. to a Korean mother and American father\u2014was called up to the national team at just 16.<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s friendlies against the U.S. on September 6 in New Jersey and Mexico on September 9 in Tennessee form part of their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

The squad also features captain Son Heung-min, who recently joined Los Angeles FC after a decade-long spell in the English Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jens Castrop is set to begin a new chapter in his international career, pledging his future to South Korea after previously representing Germany at youth level. The 22-year-old midfielder, born in D\u00fcsseldorf to a German father and Korean mother, received his first senior call-up on Monday from head coach Hong Myung-bo for upcoming friendlies against the United States and Mexico next month. Castrop\u2019s selection is historic\u2014he becomes the first foreign-born, mixed-race player to represent the South Korean men\u2019s national team. \u201cAlthough Castrop is still young, he has shown steady development in the Bundesliga,\u201d Hong said, as quoted from\u00a0Associated Press,\u00a0\u201cMost importantly, I value his determination and sense of responsibility in committing … Continue reading “Jens Castrop Earns First South Korea Call-Up After Switching From Germany”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":27504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,867],"tags":[2428,1998,408,3024,3023,95,70],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29428,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29427\/revisions\/29428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}