Coupang Play variety show "Next Legend" delivered a thrilling surge of emotion to viewers with a dramatic comeback in a Korea-Japan match staged by South Korea's next-generation soccer prospects in observance of March 1.
Coupang Play variety show "Next Legend" is a real survival program in which next-generation prospects who will lead the future of South Korean soccer earn opportunities to move abroad through fierce competition. In episode 6, released on Feb. 27, the players wrote an unscripted drama against their fated rivals Japan, heating up the lingering emotions of March 1 even more.
In episode 6, the show opened with the 18 participants, including Go Jeong-min, who dramatically joined as a wildcard after the losers' revival round, heading into the Korea-Japan match, the final gateway to London. Their opponents were a strong high school team, Shizuoka Soyo High School, shining as the champions of the Japanese tournament. Under the pressure of a one-off match with a ticket to London on the line, the whistle blew, and the first half ended in a gloomy atmosphere after conceding an early goal, 0-1, under the Japanese team's intense pressing and quick transition play.
But in the moment of crisis, the cool-headed tactics of coach Lee Young-pyo turned the tide. Substitute "soccer prodigy" Won Tae-jin entered in the second half and instantly turned the momentum around. Won Tae-jin calmly scored the equalizer by controlling the ball with his chest from a rebound off Oh Chang-hwan's shot, and then unleashed a relentless run to score the go-ahead goal, adding multiple goals and decimating the Japanese defense. The aggressive wing drives of Lee Eun-ho and Seo Hyun-woo and the ironclad defense of Lee Beom-sung combined as the Next Legend team demonstrated the textbook of "K-discipline" in perfect form.
The match ended with Won Tae-jin charging toward a hat trick in a tense, hair-trigger moment, stoking anticipation for episode 7, to be released on March 6. Behind the heat of victory now awaits a brutal time of survival. Under the leadership of world-class legend Gareth Bale, viewers are focused on who will be the final 15 to board the plane to the U.K.
The massive soccer survival show "Next Legend," which renews comeback dramas each episode and is receiving intense viewer response, is released exclusively on Coupang Play every Friday at 4 p.m.
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