Lee Kang-in’s participation in the Asian Games.
The leading French media outlet ‘L’Equipe’ reported on the 15th (Korean time), “Lee Kang-in has received permission from PSG to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games.”
L’Equipe said, “Lee Kang-in has recently been at the center of controversy in his home country of Korea. He will finally play in the Asian Games. He received permission from PSG on the 14th. Lee Kang-in is scheduled to move to China in the next few hours.” Lee Kang-in’s Asian Games It was reported that game calling was allowed.
He added, “It was decided through conversations between the player, his agent, and the club. The player’s entourage claimed, ‘I am grateful to the club for managing the situation in this way and helping the player. It is a happy result for everyone.'”
French media outlet Le Parisien also acknowledged Lee Kang-in’s selection. Le Parisien said, “Lee Kang-in will join to compete in the Asian Games. Lee Kang-in will be absent again for reasons unrelated to his health condition. The club has agreed that he will participate in the Asian Games with the Korean national team from September 23. Lee Kang-in will at least participate in the Asian Games.” “He will definitely miss the second leg of the UEFA Champions League and the match against Marseille.”
Reporter Fabrizio Romano, an expert on the European soccer transfer market, also contributed to the confirmation of the selection, saying on his SNS on the 15th, “PSG has approved Lee Kang-in’s participation in the Asian Games.”
Lee Kang-in has recently received a lot of attention regarding whether he will be selected for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. When the final list was announced, coach Hwang Sun-hong listed Lee Kang-in on the list and expressed his intention to use Lee Kang-in in the Asian Games. The Asian Games national team has many promising young players, but considering Lee Kang-in’s skills, his performance was a factor that could largely determine his performance in the Asian Games.
Initially, through Klinsmann’s interview, it was known that Lee Kang-in had already discussed with PSG whether he would be selected for the Asian Games, but injury problems became a problem. Lee Kang-in had a difficult time due to injury after the game against Toulouse on August 20th. Lee Kang-in, who was in a good mood by starting two consecutive league games against Toulouse, officially announced the injury after the game, saying, “Lee Kang-in injured his left quadriceps muscle,” and “He will receive treatment until the end of the next international break.” did.
In particular, Lee Kang-in’s injury received more attention because it was already his second injury since joining PSG. Lee Kang-in injured his right thigh muscle (hamstring) in the first pre-season game against Le Arve held at the PSG training ground, and missed most of PSG’s Asian tour schedule. Afterwards, he returned to action by playing about 20 minutes in the second half of the PSG-Jeonbuk friendly match held at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on the 3rd.
He appeared to have fully recovered as he started in the league opener against Lorient, but suffered a thigh injury again after the second round match against Toulouse. He had no problems during the game. Lee Kang-in played until the beginning of the second half and ended the game after being replaced by Kylian Mbappe. However, after the club announced the injury, absence became inevitable.
As Lee Kang-in was once again sidelined due to injury, concerns were great. PSG also focused on Lee Kang-in’s physical condition and paid special attention to his rehabilitation when Lee Kang-in, who was scheduled to be used as a key player in the team, was injured.
Even after Lee Kang-in’s first injury, PSG fans were concerned that he may continue to be injured. PSG fan account ‘PSG Community’ even cited Lee Kang-in’s injury history as an example and expressed concern that Lee Kang-in may have suffered from the ‘PSG injury curse’ after the Le Havre game.
They explained, “If you look at Lee Kang-in’s injury history, he has missed only 8 games due to injury so far,” and “In particular, since January 2020, he has not missed a single game due to injury.”
Contrary to concerns, Lee Kang-in returned quickly. Lee Kang-in devoted himself to his rehabilitation and even posted a post hinting at his return. On the 3rd, Lee Kang-in announced to his fans through his personal SNS that he would be able to return soon by posting a photo of himself training, along with a clock and arrow emoticon, and writing ‘SOON’. PSG also released a photo of Lee Kang-in training indoors through the club’s SNS account.
Afterwards, PSG also released a video of Lee Kang-in’s return to training with the tag “PSG training” on the club’s official SNS on the 12th, announcing that Lee Kang-in’s return was imminent.
Despite returning to team training, news was quiet about the possibility of participating in the Asian Games. Coach Hwang Seon-hong, who summoned the players to train for the Asian Games national team in Changwon, said at the time of the last summons, “I received an official email from PSG. I heard that Lee Kang-in’s recovery speed is fast.” ) He said he would give me an answer.”
He continued, “I think we’re probably preparing for next weekend’s league game (against Nice on the 16th). It’s already been over a year since I worked with Lee Kang-in. If possible, I hope he announces it on the 13th and joins the next day.” I hoped for your quick joining. However, with the news that PSG had not provided a specific answer to Lee Kang-in’s selection even after the 13th, Coach Hwang’s anxiety seemed to grow further.
Coach Hwang Seon-hong said in an interview held at Paju NFC on the 14th, “I have not received a definite answer from PSG regarding Lee Kang-in’s selection,” and “I decided to contact you on the 13th, including whether the injury has fully recovered or not, but there has been no official response yet, so it is a bit of a wait.” “I am frustrated. PSG is putting forward various conditions, so coordination is still needed,” he said, expressing his frustration.
Coach Hwang said about whether Lee Kang-in would not be selected despite his anxiety, saying, “I am not thinking about that part yet. Not being able to join early and only joining in the finals would be a different problem, but I am not thinking about it to that point.” He predicted that it would be quite possible.
In the end, leading French media outlets and leading reporters acknowledged Lee Kang-in’s imminent joining of the Asian Games national team, so it appears that Lee Kang-in will soon appear in the Asian Games national team.
However, as media outlets had mixed reactions to the specific timing of his joining, it is still unclear whether Lee Kang-in will join the Korean national team from the first match against Kuwait in the group stage.
Hwang Seon-hong will play the first group match against Kuwait from the Middle East at Jinhua Stadium in China at 8:30 p.m. on the 19th, and the second match against Southeast Asia’s Thailand at the same time on the 21st. He has his last game against Bahrain in the Middle East at the same time on the 24th.
In the case of L’Equipe, it was mentioned that Lee Kang-in will move within the next few hours and join immediately to prepare for the Asian Games starting on the 19th, but Le Parisien predicted that he will join the national team from the 23rd. If Lee Kang-in joins as Le Parisien predicts, he will not be able to play in the first and second group stage matches against Kuwait and Thailand. It may also be disappointing that he joins on the 23rd and does not have time to get his feet wet before the competition.
From Lee Kang-in’s perspective, participation in the Asian Games is also important. This is because it is a competition where, if a gold medal is won, athletes will receive only basic military training and be exempt from military service in accordance with the Military Service Act. Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae, who received military service benefits for winning gold medals in the last tournament, have since continued their European careers with military training.
Meanwhile, Hwang Seon-hong was placed in Group E along with Bahrain, Thailand, and Kuwait in the Asian Games men’s soccer draw held on July 27.
A total of 23 teams participated in the Hangzhou Asian Games men’s soccer event. Four teams will be organized into five groups, and only Group D will have three teams. The 12 teams ranked 1st and 2nd in each group, and the top 4 teams from the 3rd place in each group will pass the group stage and advance to the round of 16.
As the host country, China, and the top five teams from the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games were seeded, defending champion Korea was placed among the six countries in Group 1 (top seed). A draw was held in the order of Group 4, Group 3, Group 2, and Group 1, and Hwang Seon-hong entered Group E, which included Kuwait, Thailand, and Bahrain in that order. First of all, Kuwait and Bahrain are not strong teams, but as they are Middle Eastern teams, they are expected to be able to act as ambushes.
If Korea passes first place in Group E, it will meet second place in Group D in the round of 16. In Group D, Japan, Qatar, and Palestine are tied in one group, so in some cases, the match between Korea and Japan may begin in the round of 16.
North Korea, which appears again on the international stage, is seeded in Group F and will play against Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, and Chinese Taipei in the group stage. The host country, China, was in Group A with Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India, and Vietnam, which reached the semifinals of the last tournament under coach Park Hang-seo, was in Group B with Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Mongolia. Group C consists of Uzbekistan, Syria, Hong Kong, and Afghanistan.
The Hangzhou Asian Games men’s soccer match will begin on September 19th and the final to decide the gold medal will be held on October 7th, the day before the closing date. It will be held in six cities, including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, and Huzhou.
BY: 먹튀검증디비