Celtic’s South Korean internationalist, Hyeongyu Oh is looking to make his mark for his national side which is now managed by German legend Jurgen Klinsmann. The Celtic striker is still finding his feet in Scottish football but he’s already picked up one winners medal and will have hie eyes on another couple before the season is out.
Klinsmann has replaced Paulo Bento as South Korea’s National Coach ahead of games against Colombia and Uruguay and The Celtic striker is hoping to play his part and in doing so impress the new gaffer. Oh is still awaiting news on whether he will be called up by Klinsmann for these first matches after the World Cup in Qatar, which Oh missed out on.The Celtic striker explained the current situation in a report by David Friel in Scottish Sun:
“I have not heard from the national coach yet, but all players dream of playing for their national team. If I were to get the chance to be involved again I would be very grateful and give everything I have got for my country.
“I played at different representative youth levels and last year I was given my debut for the senior side. That was the realisation of a childhood dream and since then, my passion for my country has grown ever bigger,” Oh said.
In the interview, presumably with South Korean media, Oh talks about his settling in period at Celtic and his role in Ange Postecoglou’s squad and he is marvelling at the wonderful Kyogo who took his goals tally or the season to 26. With eleven or possibly twelve matches remaining is it beyond him to match that 40 goals scored by Leigh Griffiths in the season before Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club?
It’s also worth noting that Kyogo tends to play an hour rather than ninety minutes which makes that 26 goals scored this season even more impressive!
Oh understands that he is the understudy at the moment anyway. “Kyogo is the leading goalscorer in the Scottish league and every game he has proven why he is in this position. I am learning a lot from him. From his movement on the pitch to how he managed to settle in the Scottish league so quickly.
“I think we can have a healthy competition between us and I will try to do my best to help the team and learn from him. He has not been helping me directly so much but I can learn from his play and the way he trains.
“I had different responsibilities to the team in Korea than I do with Celtic. At the moment I am trying to find out what my role is within the squad and to the squad. Ultimately, though, you have the same task which is always to try our best to score goals and help the team win matches. Beyond that I am still learning what my role is in the group,” Oh said.
After converting from the spot last weekend against St Mirren – to be fair it wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but it did find the back of the net – Oh was asked if he fancies taking more penalties for Celtic, not that we get many!
“Yes, I’d be happy to take the penalties but I think it is the decision of the manager. If I get the chance I will appreciate it.”
And with Celtic nine points ahead with just ten games to go in the Scottish Premiership, Oh was asked about playing in the Champions League next season. He replied: “Yes, I am very much looking forward to the possibility of playing Champions League. These were the games I watched on TV in Korea when I was young. They give you the chance to play against the best players in the world so I will do my best to prepare for next season as well as I possibly can.
“I always supported Celtic but I also watched the games of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to learn everything I could from their quality. I was particularly interested in front line players, those were the ones I tried to learn from. Karim Benzema and others too.”
With Celtic looking at visiting the Far East this summer to maximise the commercial advantage of having Japanese players like Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Yuki Kobayashi (who had an excellent second half at Tynecastle on Saturday after replacing the injured Carl Starfelt) and Tomoki Iwata all starring in the side, Oh would welcome a stop-over from Celtic in his own homeland.
“I could never have imagined I would have the chance to go to Korea with Celtic. If it were to happen it would be a new experience for me and I would be very proud to show my country off to the rest of my team,” Oh said.
Celtic made around £5m from the trip to Australia in November and a summer tour of Japan and South Korea could potentially be even more lucrative and open up significant new commercial opportunities for the club.
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