Like his midfield counterpart Son Joon-Ho, Kim Seung-Dae is another Youngnam University alumni who was picked up by local club Pohang Steelers. The right winger, who also can play as a second striker, burst onto the scene in 2013 when he played twenty-one games, scoring three goals, as Pohang went on to have one of the most successful seasons of their history, winning both the league and the FA cup.
His performances that season helped his side win the double, vindicating manager Hwang Sun-Hong’s policy of building a side consisting only of domestic players and selling all of his foreign stars. Kim Seung-Dae continued to impress in the following season, scoring ten goals in thirty games as well as plenty of assists.
Many of his goals come from him getting on the end of short through-balls and placing the ball past the goalkeeper from close range, a type of goal that requires excellent understanding of his fellow midfielders. He also scored five goals in eight games during that season’s Asian Champions’ League campaign which saw Pohang reach the quarter-finals where they were eliminated on penalties by fellow South Korean team FC Seoul.
Although he has not yet made his full debut for the South Korean national team, he did feature in the under-23 side that won the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. He has played for the under-23’s eight times in total, scoring four goals. He has started this season brightly, scoring four goals so far including a double in Pohang’s 2-1 win over FC Seoul in March.
The first of the goals in that game involved Kim getting on the end of a perfectly-weighted aerial through ball and blasting the ball past the keeper into the far corner. For his second goal, he controlled a powerful through-ball with a great first touch before slotting it underneath the out coming keeper.
He also scored in Pohang’s four-one win over Jeonnam Dragons, and in their two-all draw against Ulsan.
Pohang are on good form at the moment and of Kim Seung-Dae keeps up his performance levels then it can’t be long until the 24-year-old breaks into the senior national squad.
Written by Steven Price
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