Korea No. 1 Kim Seung-gyu resumes training after Asian Cup injury

Football

Published: 04 Jul. 2024, 15:52

Korea No. 1 Kim Seung-gyu resumes training after Asian Cup injury

Kim Seung-gyu appears for Korea during a friendly against Saudi Arabia at St James' Park in Newcastle on Sept. 12, 2023. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Kim Seung-gyu, the Korean national football team’s No. 1 goalkeeper, has returned to training at Al Shabab FC, six months after an injury took him out of the AFC Asian Cup.

“I feel a significant improvement since I resumed training with the ball recently,” Kim said in a statement posted to Instagram by the Saudi Professional League club Wednesday.

In January, Kim was injured during the opening game of the AFC Asian Cup, forcing him to miss the rest of the tournament. It was later revealed that he had ruptured his cruciate ligament, taking him out of action for the last six months.

The veteran goalkeeper was the national team’s first pick since former manager Paulo Bento was in charge, manning the goal line as Korea advanced to the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Only conceding a goal in seven games from September 2023 to January this year, Kim showed dominance in the crease, guiding Korea to a 3-1 win over Bahrain in the opening game of the Asian Cup before his exit.

Kim’s absence forced then-manager Jurgen Klinsmann to slot in Jo Hyeon-woo — star of the Korean national team at the 2018 World Cup but largely sidelined since then — for the rest of the tournament, letting in nine goals in five games until Korea eventually lost to Jordan in the semifinals.

Son Heung-min pays tribute to Kim Seung-gyu after scoring a goal during a game against Jordan at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup on Jan. 21, 2024. [YONHAP]

“Now I am in the final stage of rehabilitation and will be present at the training camp. At that time, I hope to be fully ready to represent our team next season,” Kim said in the statement.

Kim is no stranger to rehabilitation, having previously returned from a knee injury in 2017 and an ankle injury in 2020. On both occasions he bounced back without any obvious difficulty, despite playing in the competitive Japanese J1 League at the time.

The 2024-25 Saudi season kicks off in August with the first international break scheduled in early September. Korea will face Palestine on Sept. 5 in their first game of the third round of qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup — if Kim is fit, it is likely he will get the call for that game.

BY KEVIN CHUNG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]