S. Korea coach Klinsmann meets with slumping defender Kim Min-jae in Italy
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Loading... - Mi-jung Namkoong
- 19 Apr 2023
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South Korea men's national football head coach Jurgen Klinsmann paid a visit to Napoli defender Kim Min-jae in Italy on Tuesday, the sport's national federation said, an opportunity for the veteran tactician to spend time with the talented player who recently admitted to having mental fatigue.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) uploaded a picture of Klinsmann and his assistant, Paolo Stringara, flanking Kim on its Instagram page. Klinsmann is traveling to Europe this month to visit with South Korean players based in the region. He has already met Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur in London and Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic in Scotland.
Klinsmann and Stringara watched the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals match between Napoli and AC Milan in Naples on Tuesday, the KFA said. With Kim suspended following his third yellow card of the tournament in last week's opening leg, Napoli settled for a 1-1 draw in the return leg and lost on a 2-1 aggregate.
This concluded a disappointing UEFA Champions League debut for Kim, who went through some rough patches in recent weeks. It started with Kim's surprising admission on March 28, following South Korea's 2-1 loss to Uruguay in a friendly match in Seoul, that he was "mentally spent" and that he wanted to concentrate only on his club, rather than the national team. Read More…
