GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Hwang In-Beom does not always get the recognition he deserves. And maybe that is understandable when considering the spotlight on South Korea usually centres around Son Heung-Min or Lee Kang-In.
Yet, he is someone who now has seven seasons of European club football under his belt. He patiently developed his craft in Russia, Greece and Serbia before finally earning his move to current club Feyenoord in the Eredivisie.
His role performing the tireless tasks in the South Korea engine room means he is usually the one setting up the goals for Son and Lee to grab the headlines. But, on Thursday evening at Estadio Guadalajara, when the chips were down, Hwang grabbed his opportunity to not just shine, but sparkle.
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South Korea were headed for a fourth consecutive opening defeat at the FIFA World Cup. The last time they managed to start a campaign with a win was in 2010.
For all their dominance, it was opponents Czechia who were the ones leading come the 57th minute -- with South Korea, who looked vulnerable in aerial situations all game long, exploited by a long throw that led to Ladislav Krejčí opening the scoring.
Then, the Hwang show.
An industrious off-the-ball run 10 minutes later saw him picked out by Lee but, with searing pace not one of his biggest strengths, it initially looked like the opening might have passed.
Even when he did get to the ball first, he was immediately confronted by Czechia goalkeeper Matěj Kovář -- who had already made a series of fine saves till that point. To his right, a covering Robin Hranáč was also closing in.
Feinting to shoot on his left, Hwang sat Kovář on the turf and had a sliding Hranáč flying out of the equation with one ingenious movement, which was then surpassed by the most delicate of lifted finishes sending the ball trickling over the line.
A rare goal for Hwang -- only his seventh for the Taegeuk Warriors. He is more used to creating them. And that is exactly what he did 10 minutes from time as South Korea completed a stirring come-from-behind 2-1 win.
Another clever run, this time out wide, saw him released by a visionary pass from central midfield partner Paik Seung-Ho. A solitary glance into the area was all he needed to assess his options. There was only one but, with pinpoint precision, Hwang swept in a cross right at the feet of substitute Oh Hyeon-Gyu, who powered home a first-time finish to decide the contest.
In an attritional affair where some of the standout players found it hard to get going -- South Korea replaced both Son and Lee Jae-Sung by the 70th minute -- it was Hwang who led by example for the rest to follow.
"It was a good game. Not just for myself but for the team," Hwang told ESPN after the match. "It's not easy to overcome conceding the first goal, especially since they [Czechia] are good in defence. But we didn't give up.
"We gave our everything until the end so I'm really proud of my teammates."
The fact that they even had Hwang out on the field on Thursday was something that most South Korean fans would be grateful for, considering he was a major doubt leading into the tournament after an ankle injury back in March ruled him out for the remainder of Feyenoord's season.
Midfield enforcer Park Yong-Woo, usually the prime candidate to sit behind Hwang and shield the South Korea defence, had already been ruled out. Paik, who has usually been the next in line, was also a doubt. As fate would have it, both Hwang and Paik recovered in time to play significant roles, especially in the case of the former, on Thursday.
"I think this [winning the first game] is really important for the team going on to the next games," added Hwang. "We have shown the world how good we are as a team. Not just in terms of our quality, but also in terms of our team spirit.
"That's why I'm really proud of my team."
While he has always been the calm, perhaps even soft-spoken, type off the field, Hwang now presents with an ever-growing sense of confidence and seniority which underlines the fact that he should now be considered one of South Korea's elder statesmen -- even if he does not turn 30 until September.
He is the sixth most-capped player in the South Korea squad with 74 caps and has virtually been an automatic starter since his international debut in 2018.
Hwang's versatile skillset has also been a factor behind him flying under the radar, given he does not fit in any of the traditional midfield molds.
He has the composure, situational awareness and distribution to be a deep-lying playmaker, the endeavour and intelligent movement to play box-to-box, but also the creativity and eye for a killer pass on the edge of the box to perform as No. 10 role.
Against Czechia on Thursday, he took turns performing all of those different jobs -- in the span of 84 minutes before he was replaced towards the end.
It led to a player-of-the-match performance that set South Korea's campaign off to a perfect start.
While Son and Lee will continue to be the names on everyone's lips heading into their next Group A matches against co-hosts Mexico and South Africa, it might not be a bad idea to just keep an eye on Hwang -- who has already shown he is every bit as pivotal to the South Korean cause.