Korean City fans brave the heat for a glimpse of Grealish

Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish waves to fans at the Puma City pop-up event at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul on Saturday. [NEWS1]

 
Thousands of Korean football fans lined up for hours in temperatures well over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) for a chance to see Manchester City stars including Jack Grealish, Ederson and Kyle Walker in person at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul on Saturday.
 
People began to gather from 8 a.m. to claim a good spot on the barriers at the Puma City fan event, with thousands of fans claiming their spot to catch a glimpse of Grealish by 10:30, still an hour and a half before the City midfielder and his teammates were set to arrive in Jamsil.
 
By midday the venue was packed, with fans lined up on balconies up to the fifth floor and crowded outside when Grealish, Ederson, Walker, Manuel Akanji, U-23 forward Oscar Bobb and Manchester City Women’s star Laia Aleixandri entered.
 
The six players took to the stage, posing with the Puma City logo. They were presented with specially-made Manchester City jeogori, the upper garment of the traditional Korean hanbok, with their names embroidered on the back.
 

Manchester City players pose with a specially-made City hanbok, or Korean traditional dress, at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul on Saturday. [NEWS1]

 
Some brief questions followed, with Grealish visibly excited to spot the “Korean Grealish” — a Korean fan from Busan who arrived in Jamsil with Grealish-esque facial hair drawn on and an upper-body cutout of the England star — at the front of the crowd.
 
After signing some autographs — Grealish unsurprisingly made a beeline straight for his Korean doppelganger — the players headed back to the bus.
 

Manchester City's Jack Grealish, left, and Ederson react after spotting a fan in the crowd with a drawn-on copy of Grealish's facial hair. [NEWS1]

 
Grealish, Ederson, Akanji, Walker and Bobb will be back in action this evening in a Manchester City open training session at World Cup Stadium in southern Seoul, ahead of the club’s preseason friendly against La Liga side Atletico Madrid at the same venue Sunday.
 
After the Atletico game — set to kick off at 8 p.m. tomorrow — the City squad and staff are headed straight to Incheon International Airport where they will fly back to Europe later Sunday evening.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]