South Korea's Kim Seung-gyu shines in World Cup debut, credits newborn daughter for 'extra strength'

ZAPOPAN, Mexico, June 12 (Yonhap) -- With the 15-hour difference between Mexico and his home country, South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu had only seen his newborn daughter asleep during his daily video calls with his wife. Then hours before South Korea's first Group A match of the FIFA World Cup against Czechia in western Mexico on Thursday, Kim finally got to see the baby awake. "I had only seen her sleeping but today, she even made eye contact with me," Kim said, beaming after backstopping South Korea to a 2-1 victory. "So that gave me extra strength." South Korea needed all of Kim's strength, as the 35-year-old made clutch saves down the stretch at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan to preserve the one-goal victory. Kim turned aside Adam Hlozek's shot from close range in the 82nd minute. The ball went through the legs of defender Seol Young-woo and took a tricky bounce on its way to the bottom left corner, but Kim slid to his right in the nick of time to keep the ball out. Then about four minutes into stoppage time, Kim dove to his right to deny Michal Sadilek on a shot from the penalty spot. "We all knew the importance of the first match," Kim said. "We're really happy to win after giving up the first goal." South Korea looked to be in full control before Czechia scored against the run of play, with Ladislav Krejci heading home a long throw in the 59th minute. Czechia, enjoying a considerable height advantage over South Korea, thought they had another header goal from a dead-ball situation in the 77th minute, with Tomas Soucek getting ruled offside moments after putting one past Kim. "We dominated the match but still gave up the first goal. If the match ended that way, then the loss would have been on me," Kim said. "I am happy to have helped the team with some late saves." Kim is on his fourth World Cup squad. He played one match in 2014 but rode the pine in 2018 behind Jo Hyeon-woo. Four years later, Kim was once again the first-choice keeper, with Jo relegated to the backup role. And Kim beat out Jo for the starting nod in the first match in Mexico, and barring an unforeseen development, Kim will remain coach Hong Myung-bo's go-to man in goal. Kim's career looked to be in jeopardy in early 2024 when he tore a knee ligament, an injury that can keep an athlete out for as long as a year. Kim said Thursday's win was a "reward" for the work he'd put in during his long rehab. "This time a year ago, I wondered if I'd ever make it back," Kim said. "Now, I hope I can inspire other injured players in rehab."