Soon-min Lee expressed his feelings about playing his first national team game.
Gwangju FC defeated FC Seoul 1-0 in the Hana One Q K League 1 2023 match at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 17th (Korean time). Heo Yul’s opening goal in the 4th minute of the first half was cherished throughout the game, solidifying 3rd place in the league (48 points).
Lee Sun-min enjoyed the honor of being selected to the national team for the first time in his life through the A match this September. He came on as a substitute in both the Wales and Saudi Arabia games and played in practice wearing the Taegeuk symbol.
Soon-min Lee showed tireless stamina by going on a full-time business trip to Gwangju three days after returning from England. He played a role as a link between offense and defense and helped with the build-up, and during defense, he contributed to the team finishing the game without conceding a goal through accurate positioning and dedicated defense.
The secret to Lee Sun-min’s ability to maintain his physical strength after returning to Korea was his mental strength. After the game, he met with reporters in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) and said, “Actually, I feel like I’m coming out at 3 a.m. right now to run,” and “I think mindset is more important than being conscious of such things. My body depends on what I think, so I’m tired even in this game. “Even though it was hard, I tried not to think about it,” he said, adding that he focused on preparing and thinking as usual.
For Lee Soon-min, everything related to the national team was a new experience. It was a time for him to learn new things in many areas, including meeting and training with his teammates on the national team, talking with the national team coach, and adapting to different tactics from his own team.
Among them, he said that his meeting with Son Heung-min was particularly impressive. Lee Soon-min said, “Everything was an episode. I went down to eat breakfast, and Heung-min hyung was unpacking the food in front of me. I was impressed by every single thing about it.” He added, “When I first went there, he took very good care of me. He also told me to tell him at any time if I needed anything. “Hearing those stories felt like everything was resolved in itself,” he said, adding that Son Heung-min’s mere presence was amazing.
Regarding the question about who he became close to, he said, “Everyone treated me well, and I became a lot closer to the K-League players while living with them. Hyunwoo hyung took care of me a lot, and since Hyunbeom and Seunghyun are the same age, those friends also treated me a lot. “He helped me,” he said.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann placed Lee Sun-min in a slightly higher position than in Gwangju in this two-game European away game. As a result, there was a feeling that Lee Soon-min’s strengths were not being fully displayed, and criticism followed that Coach Klinsmann had selected the wrong player.
However, this was an inevitable adjustment. Soon-min Lee said that the position was not what coach Klinsmann initially wanted, and said, “He predicted that In-beom would have difficulty playing the full 90 minutes because he had not been able to properly digest the pre-season. So, I entered the second half and helped him feel more stable. “I think they put him in that way because they wanted to give a lot of help to the defense and open up the game,” he said.
Also, regarding the conversation with Coach Klinsmann, he said, “We had a face-to-face meeting and had a lot of conversations, so I was able to hear what he wanted, why he was selected, etc. It would be nice to show on the pitch how to pressurize, annoy, and bully the opponent more harshly. “He said that the national team needs a lot of those aspects,” he said, adding that he ordered Lee Sun-min to play tough.
He added, “He put a lot of emphasis on energy. When카지노 passing the ball to the front through offense-defense transition or rear build-up, he emphasized that I should play a good role as a link to help the team move up from the middle.”
Soon-min Lee acknowledged that his experience with the national team was an important inflection point in his soccer career. First of all, “I felt a lot during the overseas trip itself. I was influenced greatly by the environment. I trained and played as a team with really good players. The opponents were all players representing the country, and players in the Premier League. “So, while playing, I didn’t really feel like I had learned anything through writing, but something I felt with my emotions,” he said, explaining that when he clashed with European players, there was something that touched him directly.
That instilled confidence in Lee Soon-min. Soon-min Lee said, “Foreign players are really good. But now I feel like they are not at a level that I can’t reach. I have a lot of hope that if I work a little harder, I can be in the same position and on the same line as them.”
Soon-min Lee repeated that in order to achieve this, he must be more humble and work hard at his current position. “I need to be more humble. Rather than being conceited, I see hope that I can do better if I recognize my shortcomings and make up for them. At this point, I will focus and work hard on the things I need to do with humility,” he said, showing a better side of himself in Gwangju. He expressed his intention to work hard for this.