▲ Kim Min-jae (C), defender for Napoli and the South Korean men's national football team, poses with South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (R) and his assistant, Paolo Stringara, during the coaches' trip to Naples, Italy, on April 18, 2023, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (Yonhap)
▲ In this file photo from March 27, 2023, South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (L) and defender Kim Min-jae attend a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, ahead of a friendly match against Uruguay. (Yonhap)

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S. Korea coach Klinsmann meets with slumping defender Kim Min-jae in Italy

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea men's national football head coach Jurgen Klinsmann paid a visit to Napoli defender Kim Min-jae in Italy on Tuesday, the sport's national federation said, an opportunity for the veteran tactician to spend time with the talented player who recently admitted to having mental fatigue.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) uploaded a picture of Klinsmann and his assistant, Paolo Stringara, flanking Kim on its Instagram page.

Klinsmann is traveling to Europe this month to visit with South Korean players based in the region. He has already met Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur in London and Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic in Scotland.

Klinsmann and Stringara watched the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals match between Napoli and AC Milan in Naples on Tuesday, the KFA said. With Kim suspended following his third yellow card of the tournament in last week's opening leg, Napoli settled for a 1-1 draw in the return leg and lost on a 2-1 aggregate.

This concluded a disappointing UEFA Champions League debut for Kim, who went through some rough patches in recent weeks.

It started with Kim's surprising admission on March 28, following South Korea's 2-1 loss to Uruguay in a friendly match in Seoul, that he was "mentally spent" and that he wanted to concentrate only on his club, rather than the national team.

It ignited speculation that Kim was about to retire from international play, though he clarified later that it wasn't his intention at all and that he had a slip of the tongue while under stress.

In another bit of controversy after the Uruguay match, Kim unfollowed and blocked Son on social media after Son, longtime national team captain, posted a message on how honored and proud he was to represent the country. Kim later apologized for his action and said he had mistakenly thought Son's words were directed at him in light of Kim's comment on commitment to the national team, even though Son posts similar messages after every international appearance.

Klinsmann will next head to his native country of Germany to see a couple of Bundesliga-based players, Lee Jae-sung of Mainz 05 and Jeong Woo-yeong of SC Freiburg.

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