It's rare for any footballer, regardless of whether your name is Lionel Messi, to lose out on the domestic championship title narrowly, score the decisive goal in a cup final, and get selected for your country’s World Cup squad in the space of just one week.
Nevertheless, that was the case for FC Midtjylland’s South Korean international defender Lee Han-beom when he brought down the curtain on a spectacular season in which he went from relative obscurity to being a household name in the Danish Superliga and for the South Korean national team.
After impressing at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2019, FC Midtjylland announced the signing of the centre-back in August 2023, adding the South Korean defender to the roster just a month after forward Cho Gue-sung joined the club.
Lee arrived on the Jutland Heath as one of the most highly rated defenders in the South Korean league, but struggled to make an immediate impact, as Midtjylland’s defensive philosophy is more centred around man-marking than defending spaces, which he was accustomed to.
Still, Lee has proven that he not only possesses impressive skills as a centre-back but also has a relentless, never-say-die attitude to overcome difficult obstacles. That has paved the way for him to claim a regular spot in a Midtjylland side (appearing in 49 official matches, delivering two goals and four assists), renowned for their extremely physical approach.
The 23-year-old defender capped a very successful season by scoring the winning goal in the Danish Cup final against FC Copenhagen before being selected for the South Korea World Cup squad two days later.
In this exclusive interview with Flashscore, Lee talks about the challenges of having to settle into another culture with a different mentality and a different defensive style than he had been used to with the South Korean national team.
Lee also offers an interesting insight into FC Midtjylland's very physical approach, the reason for the gap to newly crowned champions AGF, and his match-winning goal in the Danish Cup final against FC Copenhagen. Last but not least, he speaks about his joy of being selected for the South Korean World Cup squad and how he views his country's chances of making it past the group stage.
How do you feel you have settled in Denmark?
"In my first season, I barely got to play and felt the language barrier, but I silently devoted myself to training. Also, this season, the new coach gave me a lot of playing opportunities, so I have adapted well. Cho Gue-Sung helped me in the way that I had someone to confide in when I was struggling and feeling frustrated."
At the beginning of your stay in Denmark, you did not get much playing time. Were you frustrated about that?
"When I couldn't play in the beginning, I tried various ways to go on loan to Korea or other places, but it didn't work out, so I just considered myself a trainee and silently focused solely on training."
FC Midtjylland is a big club where it's expected that you win titles. You had the chance to win three trophies, and you ended up with one this season. Was the season a success?
"Although we narrowly missed winning the league title, I consider it a successful season in its own way. I think it was good that we scored the winning goal in the cup final to take the title, and that we performed well against strong teams like Nottingham (Forest) in the Europa League."
AGF Aarhus pipped you to the Danish title. What do you see as the biggest differences between them and you at the moment?
"Actually, we held an overwhelming advantage in our head-to-head record against Aarhus. However, the difference seemed to lie in the fact that while Aarhus always won the matches they needed to win, we occasionally slipped up in the race for the title. Also, the tight schedule we struggled with from the middle of the season onwards, having to play in both the Europa League, the Danish Cup, and the league, likely had an impact."
FC Midtjylland is the team in the Danish domestic league that received the most yellow cards this season, and the club is occasionally criticised for having an extremely physical style of play. What is your reaction to that?
"Since the team aims for man-to-man defence and the manager tends to instruct us to actively commit fouls to block the opponent's attacks, I think we generally receive a lot of yellow cards. I did get a few cards, but perhaps because I was less rough than other players, fortunately, I didn't reach the four-card threshold for suspension. (Laughs)"
Tell me about your goal in the Danish Cup final. Was it the highlight of your career so far?
"I usually practised penetrating the defence during set-piece situations in training. During the cup final, the ball came to me unusually often during set-piece situations, so I had a feeling I might score a goal, and I was happy to finally do it. But I'm not sure if that cross was aimed at me from the start. (Laughs)"
Which player is the one you fear the most, or the best one you have faced so far in your career?
"It's hard to pick just one person clearly, but Nottingham's (Morgan) Gibbs-White seems to be the most threatening. He isn't my designated striker, but seeing how hard my teammates struggle to stop him, he seems like a very smart and tough player, so even if I were to mark him man-to-man, it would be very difficult."
Do you have a favourite club that you would like to join one day?
"The team I want to play for the most is Manchester City. It is my favourite team, and I want to play under manager Pep Guardiola. It doesn't necessarily have to be the Premier League; my dream is to play in a big league like Germany."
You were selected for the South Korean squad that will go to the World Cup. What does it mean for you, and how have your family and teammates reacted?
"I had some expectations because I played reasonably well in the recent national team friendly matches (against Austria and the Ivory Coast). As soon as I was selected for the World Cup squad, my family and teammates congratulated me right away, and many acquaintances reached out."
Your teammate Cho Gue-sung was also selected for the World Cup squad. Have you discussed the possibility of taking part in the World Cup together?
"Although I have played alongside him on the same team for a long time, we talked about how the World Cup is a different stage, so we felt that playing together in the national team uniform would feel quite different."
South Korea is in the same group as Mexico, South Africa, and the Czech Republic at the World Cup. How do you see your chances in that group, and who will be your most difficult opponent?
"Among the three opponents in the group stage, I think South Africa will be the toughest. We lack information about African teams, but when I asked a teammate of African descent about them, he said they are a very aggressive team with good build-up play. I also heard that they performed very well in the World Cup qualifiers."