Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu (Al-Shabab), who was called off from the Clinsman due to an injury, was on his way home in a wheelchair.
Kim departed from Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar on Sunday (Korea time). He waved his hands in a wheelchair with a bright expression on his face.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on the 22nd, “Kim Seung-gyu was released from the team today and will return home. When he returns home, he will operate immediately, recover and rehabilitate.”
Kim Seung-gyu suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during his own game at training on the 18th.
He played only the first match against Bahrain, and from the second match against Jordan, Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan HD) wore gloves for his main goalkeeper. He was sitting in the stands, not on the bench, cheering for the Clinsman.
“Captain” Son Heung-min also performed a “Kim Seung-gyu uniform ceremony” hoping to recover after the first goal against Jordan.
“Kim Seung-gyu left with his family. He looked cheerful as he must have had a hard time (due to his injury),” said a KFA official who visited the airport with two national team officials to see off Kim Seung-gyu.
He said goodbye to the team at the hotel, and it is said that Son Heung-min showed off Kim Seung-gyu with a wheelchair until the end.
“The two of us stayed close to each other. I think Heung-min relied on him a lot,” the official said. “When it was decided that he would leave the team today, the coach talked to him separately.”
Kim Seung-gyu left, but Klinsmann indicated that he would be with Kim Seung-gyu.
Key midfielder Lee Jae-sung once said, “It is regrettable and sad that (Kim) Seung-gyu cannot be with us. I will never forget the time and efforts I have spent preparing for the event with my brother.”
Lee Jae-sung also had an experience of failing due to an injury during the 2019 United Arab Emirates (UAE) tournament.
“I know how much injury means,” he said. “We have to move forward. We still have 25 players in our team,” he said, vowing to advance to win the title for the first time in 64 years.
The national team will replace Kim Seung-gyu’s vacancy with Kim Jun-hong (Kim Cheon-sang-mu).
KFA said, “We called Kim Jun-hong because it was difficult to train with two goalkeepers because there was a considerable amount of time left for the tournament.”
“Although Kim Seung-gyu was eliminated due to injury, it is impossible to register as a replacement since the first game has passed due to the regulation of the competition. Therefore, Kim Jun-hong will be called as a practice partner, not as a substitute. As he has not been registered for the competition, he will be in the stands, not in the technical seat on the day of the competition,” he added.
Kim Joon-hong, who will join the Clinsman team in place of Kim Seung-gyu, experienced the Clinsman team through the A match in September and the A match in October.
He is a promising goalkeeper who contributed to Korea’s semifinal at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Argentina in June last year. He has yet to make his A-match debut.
Kim Joon-hong is expected to play a similar role with Oh Hyun-kyu (Celtic), who was with the team as a “preparant player” during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Oh joined the national team as the 27th member of the Qatar World Cup. If a player is unable to play due to serious injury or illness even after the final entry is submitted, the decision was made to use the rule that allows replacement up to 24 hours before the first group match. 헤라카지노
In the end, they did not make the entry, but they made it to the round of 16 for the second time ever. And using their experience, they joined this Asian Cup as an official member.