A South Korean coach criticizes Bayern over Kim’s injuries

When South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo pulled Kim Min-jae from his squad for two World Cup qualifying matches to get treatment for an Achilles injury, he accused Bayern Munich of failing to adequately care for the central defender.

Kim was substituted out on Saturday due to “treatment on his left Achilles tendonitis and rehab” after being included in Hong’s 28-man squad for the qualifiers against Jordan and Oman last Monday.

During training in Goyang, Hong told reporters that the coaching staff of the national team had been aware of “warning signs” that the ailment would worsen for some time.

“Unfortunately, Bayern Munich did not properly protect the player to prevent injury, so we’ve ended up in a situation where we have to play these important matches without a key player,” Hong added.

The importance of a game does not justify Kim’s presence on the field. Since last year, we have been well aware of the warning indications.

“We couldn’t maintain Kim Min-jae for these crucial matches since it would go against our player protection tenets. We have so decided to give him some rest.

Despite missing Bayern’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw with Union Berlin last weekend, Kim has participated in 13 of the team’s 16 games since the end of the German winter break.

The Bayern player in the center of the South Korean defense will be replaced by FC Seoul center half Kim Ju-sung, who has only played twice for his country, according to Hong.

“Kim Ju-sung had some knowledge with our system from his time with the national squad last year. We choose him because of this. He has performed admirably in the K League thus far,” Hong continued.

If they defeat Jordan in Suwon five days later and Oman in Goyang on Thursday, South Korea could earn one of the two automatic spots to the 2026 finals from Group B with two qualifiers remaining.