Excluding injuries, Kim Min-jae's short and bold messages of support, fighting!
Mar 20, 2025
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It was a message from Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who failed to join the national team.
Hong Myung-bo will open the first button of 2025. South Korea will play 7th Group B match against Oman in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province at 8 p.m. on the 20th. On the 25th, the match against Jordan is waiting. If they win two consecutive games, they will reach the first place. Regardless of the results of the remaining two games, they will be confirmed to advance to the finals of the North-China World Cup. It is the first time in Asia to advance to the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive times, so it is a new history. It will remain sixth in the world after Brazil (22 times), Germany (18 times), Italy (14 times), Argentina (13 times), and Spain (12 times).
From the North Korea-China World Cup, the number of countries that advance to the finals will increase from 32 to 48. In Asia, 8.5 tickets were also allocated, up from 4.5 to 4. In the third qualifying round, the first and second places in each group will win a ticket to the North Korea-China World Cup finals. Hong Myung-bo ran without hesitation. He is ranked first in Group B with 14 points (4 wins and 2 draws). Iraq (3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss) is in second place with 11 points, and Jordan (2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss) is in third place with 9 points. Oman is in fourth place with six points (2 wins and four losses).
Oman's FIFA ranking is 80th and South Korea is 23rd. We already met in the second round of the third qualifying round. Hong Myung-bo scored one goal and two assists on the road, winning 3-1 with Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who was involved in all three goals. Oman has an expedition, Ramadan, and cold weather 'Triplego'. It seems to acknowledge the objective difference in skills. It is highly likely to face South Korea with a counterattack strategy after locking the back door firmly through a dense defense.
The national team's concern was also Kim Min-jae. Kim Min-jae was included in the call-up list against Oman and Jordan in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. However, on the 17th, it was decided that treatment and recovery were needed during the A-match due to left Achilles tendinitis, so the call was lifted. Instead, Hong replaced FC Seoul defender Kim Joo-sung.
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Kim Min-jae is the core of the national team's power that does not need to be explained. Unlike the rich second line, the defense has no resources to replace Kim Min-jae. Although the opponent is below us, Kim Min-jae's presence or absence is directly related to the national team's performance. Coach Hong said "As you know, Kim Min-jae is a very important player for our team. However, a little disappointing is that Munich should have prevented it to protect players. There have been signals about the risk of injury since before. The national team was fully aware of the risk of injury." He then expressed regret again, saying, `I'm going to play without an important player in an important game,' but added, `I wanted to give him a bold break because it's not right to put that player (Kim Min-jae) in the game now in order to protect the player.' Immediately after Hong's remarks, the German media also showed great interest.
Ahead of the game, head coach Hong emphasized, "'It's time for a change in defense' and "'The key is how much players we spend together in it.'" Then "It's time for a change. It's a good opportunity for the team. That's how much I felt that the players were prepared," he added.
Kim Min-jae sent a message of support through Bayern's SNS on the 20th. He said 'Fighting to my part!left a short but bold message saying ' Bayern is also supporting Bayern even if it is not with the body!' cheered.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
