Football Fans Watch K-Pop Star Dance Before Atlético Game And Decide It’s Lee Kang-In

Football supporters were briefly introduced to the world of K-pop after ATEEZ member San performed a ceremonial kick-off before Atlético Madrid’s friendly against Manchester City in Seoul.

Not everybody was entirely clear who they had been introduced to.

San appeared on the pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium before the match on 9 August, performing part of a dance routine as part of the pre-match entertainment before taking the ceremonial kick-off.

Footage of the moment subsequently travelled considerably beyond its original audience, eventually reaching football social media where some viewers identified the man wearing Atlético colours as the club’s new South Korean signing Lee Kang-in.

It was not Lee Kang-in.

The confusion was helped considerably by the fact that Lee had recently completed his move from Paris Saint-Germain to Atlético and was preparing to make his debut for the Spanish club in exactly the same stadium.

The 25-year-old had become Atlético’s first South Korean player after returning to La Liga this summer and his appearance against Manchester City was one of the major attractions surrounding the club’s visit to Seoul.

San, meanwhile, had been invited separately as part of the entertainment surrounding the match and to offer his support for Lee’s Atlético debut.

This distinction became less important once the footage reached parts of football social media.

Posts showing the dance attracted thousands of reactions, with viewers debating everything from the state of modern football to whether the footage was AI-generated, while others attempted to point out that the person everybody was discussing was not actually a footballer.

Lee eventually did appear on the pitch later that evening, coming on in the second half as Atlético lost 3-1 to Manchester City.

He played football.

San had handled the dancing.