South Korea’s latest wonder boy, Cho Gue-sung’s meteoric rise in popularity, after their FIFA 2022 match against Ghana, is what everyone is talking about these days. The 24-year-old footballer, also known as Player No. 9, was noticed in the FIFA match of South Korea versus Uruguay, where he plays in the forward position. He dazzled the football fans, including the ladies.
By the time he scored two goals in a matter of mere three minutes against Ghana on 28 November, he had become a star, owing to his talent and appearance too. His Instagram fan following catapulted from 48,000 to around 1.5 million since the FIFA World Cup 2022 began.
More about the viral sensation, Cho Gue-sung
Born on 25 January 1998, Cho’s parents have been athletes. He currently plays for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors after being a star player at Gwangju University. He is known to be a top goalscorer in the 2022 K League 1. Interestingly, he was not a striker at the University but played as a defensive midfielder there.
Cho Gue-sung’s fancam already has over 6M views lol pic.twitter.com/L4B2JI3Te1
— Hyunsu Yim (@hyunsuinseoul) November 28, 2022
For the uninitiated, Cho completed military service, stationed at the Korean armed forces sports division, Gimcheon Sangmu FC, as mandated by the South Korean government, in September 2022. Post which he joined the national team.
Cho Gue-sung: A classic underdog story for football fans
Surprisingly, Player No.9’s school coaches had their doubts about him and no one envisioned him being a national sensation one day. The reason was that his height was less as compared to his peers. During his teenage years, he also fought a lot of self-doubt and decided to go for civil services and considered giving up his sporting career. Thank god, he did not.
(Main and featured image: Courtesy FIFA World/Instagram)
