South Korea national men’s team coach Jürgen Klinsmann (59) will be without Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) Lee Kang-in (22) for the team’s September tour of Europe. Lee will be rested due to injury. On the other hand, there is a player who will be back in action. Seol Young-woo (24, Ulsan Hyundai).
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced the 25-man roster for the men’s national team’s September friendlies against Wales on Sept. 8 and Saudi Arabia on Sept. 13.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Kim Young-kwon (Ulsan Hyundai), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Hwang In-beom (Olympiakos), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), and Cho Kyu-sung (Metwillan) are among the mainstays.
‘Injured’ Lee Kang-in was left off the roster. Initially, Klinsmann was keen to include Lee, but news of his left quadriceps injury broke last week and he will be without the striker for the A match.
This means that the “superline” of Son Heung-min in attack, Lee Kang-in in midfield, and Kim Min-jae in defense will not work in Klinsmann’s first away friendly.
The trio are currently raising their stock on the European stage. Son Heung-min, the “national captain,” has taken his game and leadership to the next level by wearing the Tottenham captain’s armband. In a PSG shirt, Lee Kang-in proved he can play on the big stage, starting his first two league games in a row. ‘The Monster’ Kim Min-jae has had a bit of an adjustment period, but he’s done well to anchor a Munich defense that has won the German Bundesliga for 11 consecutive seasons.
Klinsmann lamented Lee’s departure, saying, “Player injuries are the biggest variable in A-Match preparation, and Lee’s injury is expected to cause difficulties due to the disruption of match operations.” Kim Jin-soo (Jeonbuk Hyundai) and Song Bum-geun (Shonan Belmare) are also out with injuries, but he only mentioned Lee Kang-in.
“However, we will accept the reality and use it as an opportunity to prepare another plan. I hope Lee Kang-in can recover quickly and adapt to the team and participate in the Asian Games in good shape.”
While Lee Kang-in will be rested for the duration of the A-Match, there is another player who will have a tough schedule ahead of him. That would be Ulsan defender Seol Young-woo.
The Ulsan defender is also a “wild card” for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will take place immediately after the A-Match.
The Asian Games will be held from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8. Due to the large number of matches compared to the duration of the Games, soccer is scheduled before the official opening ceremony. South Korea, who are in Group E, will open their campaign against Kuwait on the 19th at the Jinhua Sports Center Stadium. They will then face Thailand on the 21st and Bahrain on the 24th at the same venue. Seol Young-woo, who was named as a “wild card” on the roster for the tournament, will likely travel to China directly after the A-match in Europe, assuming he remains injury-free.
If Hwang Sun-hong’s Asian Games team makes it to the final, the schedule runs through October 7, and if Seol Young-woo wants to prepare for the October A match, he’ll have to head to Klinsmann Lake immediately after the Asian Games. He’ll also have to juggle Ulsan’s K League 1 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. It’s a hectic schedule. 먹튀검증
Seol also plays a lot of games for his club, Ulsan. So far this season, he has played 26 games, missing only two. “We decided to call him up because we thought he was essential for the game against Wales,” Klinsmann said. With a hellish schedule ahead, Seol needs to stay injury-free now more than ever.