The men’s goal-kickers, who competed in the tournament for the first time this year, won the title and represented South Korea.
The Gatorade 5v5 Korea Finals 2024, the country’s premier amateur middle school futsal tournament, was held at HM Futsal Park Siheung in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, on Saturday. The winners of the tournament qualified to represent Korea at the Gatorade 5v5 global finals in London, England, in the first half of this year.
The Gatorade 5v5 Korea Finals, which has been held since 2022, had an age limit of junior high school students until last year, but from this year, the age limit was adjusted from May 29, 2007 to March 1, 2010 in line with the Gatorade 5v5 global finals. Since the age is now as low as first-year high school students in Korea, many students who were familiar with the tournament last year returned to participate.
The enthusiasm for the contest was overwhelming even before it started. During the one-month recruitment period, more than 60 teams from all over the country applied to participate, and the organizer, HNS, selected a total of 36 participating teams after carefully reviewing team and key player profiles and prize-winning experience.
The quality of the participating teams was higher than in previous years. One student who participated in the tournament for the second year in a row commented, “I think it’s harder to win than last year.”
This year’s winner was Goljeonnam. The team is a kind of all-star team made up of students who have been playing futsal together in the Incheon area. In their first appearance at the tournament, Goljae Nam won the championship and qualified to represent Korea at the Gatorade 5v5 Global Finals 2024 in London in May, thanks to their tight defense that took the game to penalty kicks.
“Soccer is the same in Korea and it will be the same in London,” said Choo Sang-won, who was named MVP of the tournament after making a series of good saves in the match and penalty shootout. I’m just going to have fun and enjoy myself,” he said. When asked what he was most looking forward to in London, he said, “Clean air,” and laughed.
“I’m happy that the kids are doing so well,” said Mr. Lee Jong-woo, the teacher who led the team. We are friends who play soccer as a hobby. It’s a school sport, and the 카지노 Incheon City Office of Education has provided a lot of support for the children to do well in sports activities.” “The first purpose of the program was for the children to clean up the air through soccer, and I’m very happy that they did so well,” he added.
Pepsi Korea CEO Jacob Park and former national team member Lee Dong-guk, a Gatorade Ambassador, were among the honorees. “I can see in their eyes that they love soccer,” Lee said of the tournament, “and I think it would be better for them if there were more tournaments like this,” adding that he hopes the tournament will encourage young amateur soccer players.
Organizer HNS has been hosting the tournament with Gatorade since 2022, and in addition to the middle school tournament, the tournament also hosts an annual women’s amateur tournament with partner Gatorade to promote the sport in everyday life.