Kim Min-jae, upset by 'conceding 3 goals to Saudi Arabia', says, "It's due to a small lack of concentration"

Kim Min-jae (Munich), a central defender of the Korean national soccer team, bowed his head for scoring three goals against Saudi Arabia, saying, "It was the result of a slight lack of concentration."

Kim Min-jae met with reporters after the friendly match against Saudi Arabia held at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 13th (local time) and said, "It's unfortunate that we couldn't get a win. I will definitely win the next game."

The Korean national team, led by interim coach Robert Moreno, lost 2-3 to Saudi Arabia in the first game of a two-game international match in November.

This is the first time in 42 years that Korea has scored three or more goals against Saudi Arabia since losing 4-5 in the final qualifying round for the Los Angeles Olympics in April 1984.

Regarding this, Kim Min-jae said, "I think if we had paid a little more attention, we could have prevented situations like the first or second goal. It's unfortunate that a small lack of concentration led to conceding a goal. If we make up for that in the next game, we will be able to do well."

Ahead of this game, Kim Min-jae, along with '92 line' Son Heung-min (LAFC) and Lee Jae-seong (Mainz), and '96 line' Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke) and Hwang In-beom (Porto), participated in a joint statement dismissing the rumors of discord surrounding the national team.

When asked that there might be fans who thought the statement was insufficient in explanation, he replied, "I tried to internally resolve what happened within the national team, but at some point, information that was completely untrue spread out in a distorted manner, and I was very embarrassed. I had a lot of conversations with my brothers, and I included the contents in the statement. So I have nothing more to say."

At the same time, he said that regardless of the announcement of the statement, he only thinks about playing hard in every game and contributing to the team.

Kim Min-jae also emphasized that the national team players seemed to have become one through the agreement.

He said, "All the players have been working hard to help the national team go in a good direction. Many people may think, 'Is this all with one statement?' But the players are working hard to help the national team go in a good direction. Now, I see hope that they can become a solid national team."