'Man of 700 billion won' stepped on Korean soil.
Barcelona visited Korea with Lamine Yamal at the forefront. Barcelona's squad arrived at Incheon International Airport on the 29th. It is the third time in 15 years since 2010 that Barcelona has visited Korea. Barcelona first came to Korea for a friendly against Suwon Samsung in 2004 and then faced the team K League in 2010.
Barcelona arrived in Korea on a chartered plane after a friendly match with Vissel Kobe in Kobe, Japan, on the 27th. At the time, Barcelona won 3-1. Barcelona, led by Eric Garcia's first goal in the 33rd minute, gave Daisei Miyashiro an equalizer in the 42nd minute, but Rooney Barra in the 32nd minuteIt was won by Zeng's winning goal and Pedro Fernandez Sarmiento's additional goal in the 42nd minute of the second half.
Barcelona's squad appeared at the arrival hall amid the hospitality of numerous fans. Most of them politely refused fans' requests for autographs and photos and boarded the bus, but Frenkie the Dragon and others kindly provided fan service.
As expected, attention turned to Yamal. Yamal, wearing a hat and headset, raised his hand to the cheers of the fans. Yamal is considered the next emperor to succeed Lionel Messi. Yamal, who debuted in Barcelona's first division at the age of 15 years and 290 days, broke all the youngest records in the club's history, including the youngest start in Primera Liga (16 years and 38 days), the youngest score in Primera Liga (16 years and 87 days), and the youngest and youngest score for the Spanish national team (16 years and 57 days).
Yamal, who is showing off his incredible skills in 2007, scored 18 goals and 25 assists last season to lead Barcelona to the Primera Liga and Copadelay championship. Ahead of this season, Diego Maradona, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Messi were assigned No. 10. Yamal is recognized for his ability, with a current market value of 434 million euros (about 700 billion won) as evaluated by the International Sports Research Institute (CIES) under FIFA.
Not only Yamal, but also Roberto Lewandowski, one of the world's best strikers, 'Iniesta's successor' Pedri, and Marcus Rashford, who was recently loaned to Barcelona, stepped on the Korean soil. The Barcelona team immediately unravels its cross-dressing and immediately conducts its first training session at Goyang Stadium. After that, he will continue training in Goyang and play a friendly match against FC Seoul at 8 p.m. on the 31st at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. After the friendly match with Seoul, he will continue training by changing the training site to the Paju National Football Team Training Center (NFC), and then return to Barcelona, Spain after a second friendly match against Daegu FC at Daegu Stadium on the 4th of next month.
It is a visit to Korea after many twists and turns. The Japanese tour, which was scheduled to take place prior to the Korean tour, was canceled and faced a crisis. On the 24th, Barcelona announced on its official channel that it will not be able to participate in the game scheduled for the 27th in Japan, saying, `We deeply regret this incident and its impact on many Japanese fans.' Barcelona was scheduled to head to Japan on the 24th for this purpose, but announced the cancellation of the friendly match.
The reason is breach of contract. Barcelona said the promoter committed a grave breach of contract. ESPN said the breach of contract is related to the amount promised by the organisers in exchange for Barcelona's participation in the game.
The official promoter said there would be no problem with the Korean tour, but attention was paid to whether it would be successful or not. Fans' interest in Barcelona, which returns for the first time in 15 years, was hot. In the case of the match against Seoul, it was sold out 40 minutes after the start of general reservations on the 25th of last month. In particular, a special face-off was held ahead of the match against Seoul. Rashford's trip to Barcelona will be decided, and he will face Jesse Lingard. Lingard, who played for Manchester United, moved to Seoul in 2024. The two are from Manchester United Youth and have been in the same team for a long time.
Barcelona said 'We are considering adjusting the schedule and participating in the two games in Korea if the promoter meets certain conditions'If the conditions are met, he will travel to Korea in the next few days'
However, as a Japanese sponsor came forward, the Japanese tour was promoted again. Barcelona, which wrapped up its Japanese tour, came to Korea as scheduled. Barcelona expects a profit of between €15 million and €25 million from the tour. This is the highest amount in Barcelona's Asian tour history.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
