sportstotomen   Album Posted Nov.16th, 2023, viewed 280 times

'3G consecutive goals' Lee Kang-In: "I'm happy, but team win is more important"

Korean soccer makes clean start to 11th consecutive World Cup with 5-0 win over Singapore
Lee Kang-in scored his third consecutive A-Match goal, setting up Cho Kyu-sung's 44th-minute opener with a cross.

South Korea's soccer future, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), put a smile on Klinsmann's face with his incisive passing, crossing and finishing.

Jürgen Klinsmann's (GER) men's national football team cruised to a 5-0 victory over Singapore in the first match of Group C of the 2026 North American Football Championship Asia Second Qualifying Round at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m. behind relay goals from Cho Kyu-sung (Mittwylan), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Eui-jo (Norwich City) and Lee Kang-in.

It's the first step in South Korea's quest to qualify for its 11th consecutive World Cup.

Singapore were the underdogs, but as expected, they came out early with a tactic of dropping all 10 field players defensively. It was tricky. It wasn't as easy as you'd expect to break through a dense defense. There was also some bad luck in goal.

It was Lee Kang-in who broke the deadlock. Lee set up Cho Kyu-sung's first goal with a sharp cross in the 44th minute. Earlier, a goal by Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) was disallowed due to an offside call, but Lee was the originator of the cross.

Lee also broke down Singapore's right flank for Hwang Hee Chan's second goal.

"It's something that coach Klinsmann always emphasizes in training," Lee said in the joint press area. I feel good that it came out well. I'll do my best to make sure it comes out well."

He added a fifth goal in the 40th minute to seal the victory.

Lee, who scored in two consecutive A-Match matches against Tunisia and Vietnam last month, continued his attacking form with a goal in three consecutive A-Match matches. Since scoring his A-Match debut against Tunisia, Lee has scored in every game.

In three games, he had four goals and two assists. It's no exaggeration to say that he was responsible for the offense.

"I'm happy to have scored in three consecutive A-Match matches," he said. As a player, of course, I'm happy to record offensive points," he said, "but team victory is more important than goals, assists, and offensive points. We are focused on winning."

"Winning is the most important thing, and if we go to the Asian Cup next year, we will prepare to win as much as possible. We will play as a team and work hard."

After the game, Klinsmann said of Lee: "He's going to be very important (going forward). When you play a team that drops down defensively like we did today, you need to be creative. You need players who can penetrate the box, you need players who can score goals, you need players who can be aggressive in one-on-ones. That's what he's done, and that's what I think he's going to continue to do."

He added, "I'm happy to see him grow. Not only the coaches, but also you, the fans. You should be happy. It's a happy thing for Korean soccer."

Lee Kang-in concluded, "I don't feel (growth) separately, but I'm just trying to be a better player in every training and every game. I will continue to strive to become a better player."

Klinsmann's men will travel to China for their second group game against China on Nov. 21. 스포츠토토맨