Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who came to South Korea for the World Cup qualifiers after playing 14 consecutive full-time games for German top-flight club Bayern Munich, responded to the “hype” surrounding him. He emphasized that it was better than not playing at all.
South Korea thrashed Singapore 5-0 at home on Saturday at Seoul World Cup Stadium in the first match of Group C of the 2026 World Cup (co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States) Asian qualifiers, thanks to consecutive goals from Cho Kyu-sung, Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Eui-jo and Lee Kang-in.
South Korea, ranked 2-3 in objective power, were expected to open the scoring at home, but the lid was lifted. They struggled with their opponents’ tight defense and goalkeeping.
However, starting with Cho Kyu-sung’s first goal of the game just before first-half stoppage time, South Korea stormed past Singapore in the second half. Hwang Hee-chan scored in the fourth minute of the second half, followed by Son Heung-min in the 18th minute, Hwang Eui-jo in the 23rd minute on a penalty kick, and Lee Kang-in in the 40th minute.
With their opponents dropping back into a tight defense, South Korea lined up strongly and the defense, including Kim Min-jae, focused on shutting down Singapore’s occasional counterattacks.
Kim Min-jae played the full match, his 14th consecutive full match for Munich. He has also started five consecutive games for Klinsmann’s men, dating back to September against England, and has played the full 90 minutes in four of them, with the exception of a 30-minute substitution in an exhibition game against Vietnam last month. 보스토토
Despite the exhaustion, Kim said it was better to play this much than not to play at all. “I think I’m repeating myself, but I think it’s better to play than not to play, and I think I need to adapt well and manage how I can keep my concentration and play well,” he said.
Kim will travel to China with the national team on Sept. 19 and will play against China in the second round of the second qualifying round on Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center.
“I don’t think so,” Kim laughed when asked if he would share his experience of playing in China for two years from 2019 to 2021 with the national team, “The players who played in the same team (Beijing) are now playing for the national team, so I can tell you about them, but I don’t know exactly about the other players.” Kim Min-jae previously scored a goal against China in the 2019 Asian Cup group stage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 2019 after joining the attack from a set piece.