Academy

HSV host South Korea U16s

HSV welcomed South Korea's U16 team to Hamburg as part of the Deutsche Fußball Liga's (DFL) internationalisation project "Bundesliga Dream." Last September, the club had hosted a team of young talents from Thailand as part of the program.

On Tuesday morning (6th May), a bus containing South Korea's U16 national team pulled up outside of the Alexander-Otto-Academy in Hamburg. As part of the DFL's "Bundesliga Dream" initiative, organised in cooperation with the Korea Football Association and Coupang Play, the team first spent a week at 1. FSV Mainz 05 before travelling north to Hamburg. After receiving a warm welcome and taking a group photo, the team then headed to the training pitch for their first session. Phil Nabaoui, head coach of the HSV U19s, and Levon Airapetian, assistant coach of the HSV U16s, oversaw the session. During the afternoon, the visitors were able to watch the club's first team and U21s train at the Volkspark.

After receiving a warm welcome to Hamburg, the South Korea U16s then headed to the training pitch for their first session.

Behind the scenes at HSV

The club were pleased to have been given the opportunity to welcome the youngsters to Hamburg. "We're delighted to once again be taking part in this groundbreaking project that seeks to promote international exchanges in football, in addition to providing young talents with valuable life experience. Our goal is to provide players with an insight into the work we do and our philosophy at HSV, both on and off the pitch," said Christoph Rohmer, director of sport strategy. "At the same time, we're aiming to promote the sporting development of the players. Being able to enter into an exchange with teams from abroad is also of great benefit to us and we're looking forward to hosting our guests from South Korea and to several inspirational days together."

Focus on the football

While last September's visit of a selection of young talents from Thailand was supplemented by a rich selection of cultural programming, the focus of this current visit is squarely on footballing matters. In addition to daily training sessions, the team will also play a friendly against a mixed team made up of HSV's U16 and U17 squads on Wednesday afternoon (7th May). Ahead of the game, Basil More-Chevalier, assistant coach of the HSV U21 and the club's head of methodology, together with Julia Brinkschröder, head of strategy and coach development, will present the club's training methodology and youth development strategy. On Friday (9th May), the South Korean team will take part in a stadium tour before playing a second friendly against the club's U17s and U19s on Saturday evening (10th May). They will then attend the Rothosen's Bundesliga 2 match against SSV Ulm at the Volksparkstadion. The following day, the team will watch as the HSV U16s take on FC Union 60 in the Regionalliga Nord, before returning home to South Korea on Monday (12th May).