“The players are more desperate. “I will do my best to repay you somehow.”
Lee Kang-in, the ‘golden left foot’, showed his earnest desire to win by scoring multiple goals in the first game of the Asian Cup.
The Korean national football team, led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, won 3-1 in the first leg against Bahrain in Group E of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup group stage held at Al Rayyan Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar on the 15th (Korean time).
Korea took a 1-0 lead with Hwang In-beom scoring the first goal in the 38th minute of the first half, but gave up an equalizer to Abdullah Al Hashish in the 6th minute of the second half. Korea suffered a blow to the Middle Eastern team as they were unable to play the game as they wanted, receiving three warnings in the first half alone.
But in Korea, there was Lee Kang-in. In the 11th minute of the second half, Lee Kang-in received a pass from Kim Min-jae and cut into the corner of the Bahrain goal with a left-footed mid-range shot.
Lee Kang-in, who scored the comeback goal, did not stop attacking. In the 23rd minute of the second half, Lee Kang-in received a pass from Hwang In-beom on the right side of the penalty box, immediately passed the defender, and scored the game-winning goal with a left-footed shot aimed at the corner of the far post.
Lee Kang-in, who wore the Korean national team uniform on May 19, 2019, made his mark as a ‘next-generation star’ by scoring multiple goals along with his debut goal in the international match against Tunisia in October last year. Lee Kang-in continued to score goals in 3 consecutive A matches, including 1 goal against Vietnam and 1 goal against Singapore in November, and scored 4 goals and 3 assists in 4 A matches in October and November.
Lee Kang-in continued his peak performance on the club team. Lee Kang-in, who transferred to Paris Saint-Germain, a prestigious French Ligue 1 club, scored his debut goal for Paris Saint-Germain in a match against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League after an international match in October, and even recorded his debut goal in Ligue 1 against Montpellier. did. In the final of the Trophy des Champions, he even fired a victory gun against Toulouse.
Lee Kang-in’s performance that day was literally dazzling. According to soccer statistics media Footmob, Lee Kang-in had a 91% pass success rate against Bahrain, a 100% long pass success rate, 3 chance creations, 3 final third passes, 67% shooting accuracy, 74 ball touches, 6 successful dribbles, and 4 interceptions. He performed very well, recording the following. Lee Kang-in, who led the game to victory that day, was selected as Man of the Match (MOM).
Additionally, Lee Kang-in scored multiple goals in the first game and became the leading scorer in the Asian Cup. He is joint leader with Takumi Minamino (Japan) and Afif Akram (Qatar).
Korea’s all-time Asian Cup top scorers are five. Starting with Cho Yun-ok (4 goals) in the 1960 tournament, which won the tournament for the last time, the top scorers were Choi Sun-ho (7 goals) in 1980, Lee Tae-ho (3 goals) in 1988, Lee Dong-gook (6 goals) in 2000, and Koo Ja-cheol (5 goals) in 2011. I won it. 토토사이트 추천
Lee Kang-in said in a post-game interview, “No player thought it would be an easy game. He wasn’t even on the coaching staff. “I think it was like that in reality,” he said, adding, “There were good and bad points in winning today’s game 3-1, but we need to prepare better for the next game and try to get a good result.”
Regarding the situation after conceding a goal, “Regardless of whether we score a goal or concede a goal, we maintain the play we want to play. “I was not shaken,” he said. “If a goal is scored, of course the attackers play with the mindset that they have to score a goal. “I’m happy to help the team,” he explained.
Regarding the scene where he scored the goal, Lee Kang-in said, “It was a very good pass. I think it was a very good move. “It’s not just my goal, it’s all the players’ goals,” he said. “I think I was able to score it thanks to the players who played and all the players who prepared for the game. And I think we were able to win. If there is a good opportunity in the next game, I will try to score a goal. As I always say, the team victory is more important to me than scoring goals. “We will play accordingly,” he said.