Paik Seung-ho

Paik Seung-ho (Korean: 백승호; RR: Baek Seung-ho; born 17 March 1997) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Birmingham City and the South Korea national team. Starting playing football since May in 2005 in a football academy, Paik was awarded MVP award in juvenile team and MVP award from Korea Football Association (KFA) in youth team for the first time at the age of 11. While he played in Barcelona youth team at the age of 13, he was expected to join Barcelona A for the first time as Korean player.[2]

In this Korean name, the family name is Baek.
Paik Seung-ho
Paik in June 2019
Personal information
Full name Paik Seung-ho[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-17) 17 March 1997
Place of birth Seoul, South Korea
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 13
Youth career
2004–2009 Seoul Daedong Elementary School
2009–2010 Suwon Samsung Bluewings[note 1]
2010–2016 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Barcelona B 2 (0)
2017–2019 Peralada 55 (2)
2019 Girona 3 (0)
2019–2021 Darmstadt 98 41 (2)
2021–2024 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 82 (9)
2024– Birmingham City 17 (1)
International career‡
2014–2017 South Korea U20 20 (7)
2019–2023 South Korea U23 12[lower-greek 1] (3)
2019– South Korea 17 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  South Korea
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2022 HangzhouTeam
EAFF Championship
Runner-up2022 JapanTeam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:01, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:01, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
Paik Seung-ho
Hangul
백승호
Hanja
Revised RomanizationBaek Seungho
McCune–ReischauerBaek Sŭngho

Early life
Paik in 2012

In 2009, as a member of Seoul Daedong Elementary School, he played 18 games in the Elementary Weekend League and scored 30 goals. Since then, he has received attention as an outstanding prospect, winning the 22nd Cha Bum-kun Football Grand Prize. In December, he participated in the 1st Korea-Catalonia Youth Cup in Barcelona, Spain as a member of the South Korean national under-14 football team,[3] and was offered a contract as a result of his impressive performance.[4] However, he was already scouted by Maetan Middle School, a youth team of Samsung Bluewings in Suwon, and was scheduled to enter, but Samsung Bluewings decided to send Paik to Spain with a long term vision and also to support him.[5]

Paik played for Maetan Middle School, under-15 youth team of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings until March 2010, before moving to Barcelona's under-13 youth team, Infantil A, in April 2010. In July 2011, Paik signed a five-year contract with Barcelona's youth team, leaving him in Barcelona's uniform until the age of 19.[6] However, in February 2013, FIFA suspended six players, including Paik, from Barcelona's youth team, for violating Article 19 of the FIFA rules[7] that made Paik not participate in Barcelona's official matches until January 2016. After the disciplinary action was released in January 2016, he played actively for Barcelona Juvenile A, and made his professional debut on 21 February, as a substitute in Segunda División B match with Atlético Levante in the 45th minute of the second half.[8]

Club career

Girona

Paik played for Barcelona as a youth player for seven years, but he had difficulty competing in the senior team. He joined Girona on 21 July 2017, and played for Peralada, the reserve team of Girona at the time, in the Segunda División B during his first professional season.

Paik made his first team debut against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey on 10 January 2019.[9] He made his La Liga debut as a substitute against Barcelona on 27 January. He officially played six matches for Girona excluding a Supercopa de Catalunya match.[10]

Darmstadt 98

On 31 August 2019, Paik signed for 2. Bundesliga side Darmstadt 98 on a three-year deal.[11] He played for Darmstadt for one-and-a-half years, but his status in the team was gradually lowered. He eventually considered a return to his country in order to get more appearances in the field and moreover participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics.[12] He joined K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in March 2021.[13]

Birmingham City

After the end of his three-year contract with Jeonbuk and his exemption from mandatory military service as an Asian Games gold medalist, Paik was expected to return to Europe.[14] He joined EFL Championship club Birmingham City on 30 January 2024.[15] On 4 May 2024, the final match day of the EFL Championship season, Paik scored his first goal for Birmingham in a 1–0 win over Norwich City. Despite the victory, Birmingham were relegated after finishing 22nd out of 24 on the table.[16]

International career

Paik made his South Korea national team debut on 11 June 2019 in a friendly against Iran, as a starter.[17]

Paik played South Korea's round-of-16 match against Brazil as a substitute in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and his goal in the match was nominated for goal of the tournament.[18]

Paik participated in the 2022 Asian Games as an overage player, and captained South Korean under-24 team. He scored three goals with his powerful shots in the competition, but was criticised for his mistakes responsible for conceding goals to opponents in the knockout stage. Nevertheless, he successfully finished his role, winning a gold medal.[19]

In March 2024, Paik received his first senior call-up for a year, for home-and-away 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Thailand.[20] He started both matches, playing the whole of the home match, a 1–1 draw, and the first half of the away game, which South Korea won 3–0.[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 27 April 2024[10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2015–16 Segunda División B 10——10
2016–17 Segunda División B 10——10
Total20000020
Peralada 2017–18 Segunda División B 341——341
2018–19 Segunda División B 211——211
Total5520000552
Girona 2018–19 La Liga 3030—60
Darmstadt 98 2019–20 2. Bundesliga 28210—292
2020–21 2. Bundesliga 13031—161
Total 4124100453
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2021 K League 1 254107[lower-alpha 2]0334
2022 K League 1 302505[lower-alpha 2]1403
2023 K League 1 273313[lower-alpha 2]0334
Total 8299115110611
Birmingham City 2023–24 Championship 17000—170
Career total 2001316215123116
  1. Includes Copa del Rey, DFB-Pokal, Korean FA Cup
  2. Appearances in AFC Champions League

International
As of match played 26 March 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
South Korea
201930
202000
202110
2022113
202300
202420
Total173
Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column lists the score after each Paik goal.[22]
List of international goals scored by Paik Seung-ho
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
115 January 2022Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey Iceland3–05–1Friendly
221 January 2022Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey Moldova2–04–0Friendly
35 December 2022Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar Brazil1–41–42022 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

South Korea U23

South Korea

Individual

Notes
  1. Played for Maetan Middle School, which was an academy of Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
  1. Includes seven appearances and three goals as an overage player in Asian Games.

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Korea Republic (KOR)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 17. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. [U-20]父가 들려준 '축구천재'의 부활 스토리. Sports Chosun (in Korean). 24 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  3. 유소년축구 대표, 스페인 카탈루냐컵 출전. Naver (in Korean). Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  4. 6년 만에 흩어진 바르사 3총사…"정상에서 만나자". Yonhap News Agency. 28 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  5. "수원 이겨라" 바르샤 유스 백승호, 빅버드 찾아 '응원' (in Korean). Osen. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. '축구신동' 백승호, 바르셀로나 유소년팀과 5년 계약 (in Korean). The Korea Economic Daily. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  7. Kim, Yeong-rok (25 February 2013). '바르샤 코리안' 적신호…이승우 이어 백승호-장결희도 출전금지. Sports Donga.
  8. 백승호, 바르사 B 공식 데뷔 (in Korean). Osen. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  9. "Paik Seung-ho Debuts in Spain's Top-Tier League". The Chosun Ilbo. 11 January 2019.
  10. "Paik Seung-ho". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  11. "SV 98 verpflichtet Seung-Ho Paik" (in German). SV Darmstadt 98. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  12. ‘배신자’ 낙인찍힌 백승호, 다름슈타트로 돌아가지도 못한다 (in Korean). Starnews Korea. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  13. "Seung-Ho Paik verlässt den SV Darmstadt 98 Richtung Südkorea". kicker (in German). 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  14. Bulley, Jim (2 January 2024). "Europe could come calling for Paik Seung-ho this January". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  15. "Paik Seung-ho is a blue!". Birmingham City F.C. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  16. "Birmingham City 1–0 Norwich City". BBC Sport. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  17. "South Korea v Iran game report". ESPN. 11 June 2019.
  18. "Vote Now: Hyundai Goal Of The Tournament". FIFA. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  19. "형 왜 이렇게 울어?…나 원래 눈물이 많아" 누구보다 여린 주장, 완장의 무게를 꿋꿋이 견뎠다[항저우ON] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  20. Paik Ji-hwan (11 March 2024). "Paik Seung-ho rejoins Korea squad as Hwang makes some changes". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  21. "Seung-ho Paik". worldfootball.net. Heim:Spiel Medien. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  22. "Paik Seung-ho". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  23. "EA SPORTS Player Of The Month May. PAIK Seung-Ho". YouTube.com (in Korean). K League. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
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