K-League Stars

What filled the gap was the summer visitor. Barcelona in 2010, Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur twice, Atlético Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester City — clubs arriving in Seoul on pre-season tours, met by a side assembled for the night from across K League 1.

The Atlético match in 2023 is the one worth retelling. Two goals down, the selection came back to win 3-2, with Krivosyuk, Palocevic and Lee Sung-min scoring and Lemar replying. Nothing about the arrangement — players who train apart, a staff put together for one fixture — suggests that should happen. It happened anyway, and it happened again in 2025 against Newcastle, 1-0.

The 2022 game at Seoul World Cup Stadium was Son Heung-min's night rather than the home side's: he scored twice for Tottenham in front of a Korean crowd, and Spurs won 6-3. When City came in 2026 the match was effectively over inside 23 minutes, three goals gone before the selection had settled.

The ground itself holds 66,704 after VIP seating went in during 2014, though Daejeon, Suwon and Jamsil have all taken a turn. There is no permanent coach: Hong Myung-bo had it for one summer, Kim Sang-sik for another, each returning to his club afterwards.