Yang Hyun-jun of Celtic and Lee Young-jun of Grasshopper Club Zurich each scored for their clubs, a promising sign for South Korea's bid for a fourth straight men's football gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Yang scored his team's clinching goal in a 3-0 home win over Aberdeen in the fifth round of the 2026-2027 Scottish Premiership at Celtic Park in Glasgow on the 2nd.
With Celtic leading 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, Yang collected a pass from Camilo Duran on the right flank, carried it forward at speed and beat the goalkeeper with a left-footed shot.
It was Yang's first goal of the season, coming in his sixth competitive appearance. Before the match he had recorded one assist and no goals.
Lee Young-jun, a striker for Swiss club Grasshopper, added his third goal of the season. He came off the bench and scored in a sixth-round Swiss Super League home match against St. Gallen at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich on the same day.
Lee replaced center forward Nikolas Muci in the 65th minute with his team leading 1-0 and scored nine minutes later with a powerful right-footed strike. It was his second goal in as many games, following an equalizer in a fifth-round away match at Vaduz on Aug. 31, and his third of the season. Lee has scored three goals in three competitive appearances this season, showing sharp form in front of goal. Grasshopper won 2-0.
The goals are welcome news for the under-23 national team preparing for the Asian Games. Both players are key attacking options for coach Lee Min-sung, and Yang was selected as a "wild card" for the tournament. The two will join the squad in Japan on the 7th.
South Korea has been drawn into Group D with Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The team opens its campaign against Qatar on the 15th.
