Korean national soccer team manager picks seven new players

Korean soccer player Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), one of the key defenders of the Korean national soccer team, will not perform in the two 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian region second qualifying matches held in June.

Kim was omitted from the list of 23 players announced by national team interim coach Kim Do-hoon on Monday. “Kim Min-jae requested to be excluded from the list as his recently injured left ankle has not fully recovered, limiting his participation in normal training and games,” explained the manager. Kim injured his ankle in the German Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg on May 13. It has been one year since Kim Min-jae was excluded from the national team roster.

Meanwhile, most Korean players from overseas professional football leagues have been selected, including Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), as well as Oh Se-hoon (Machida Zelvia), Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), Hwang Jae-won (Daegu), Choi Jun (FC Seoul), Hwang In-jae (Pohang), Park Seung-wook (Kimcheon) and Ha Chang-rae (Nagoya), have been named to the national team roster for the first time.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com