Veteran goalkeeper focusing on team goal while gearing up for 4th World Cup
Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu makes a save on Ronaldo Martinez of Paraguay during the teams' friendly match at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Oct. 14. Yonhap
Back in the national team picture following a long injury absence, veteran goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu said Monday he has set his sights on accomplishing a collective goal, rather than individual glory.
Kim, 35, made his national team return in September after not having represented Korea over the past 20 months due to a knee injury. He had been the country's first-choice keeper at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in January 2024, but ended up playing just one match after tearing a knee ligament during a training session.
Kim, who was Korea's top keeper at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, was surpassed on the depth chart by the 34-year-old Jo Hyeon-woo, who had been the main goalkeeper at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The two have split duties over the past four national team contests. Kim was in net for a 2-2 draw against Mexico in September and a 2-0 win over Paraguay in October, while Jo played in the 2-0 win against the United States in September and in a 5-0 loss to Brazil the following month.
Another timeshare seems likely this month, with Korea scheduled to face Bolivia on Friday and Ghana on Nov. 18.
Kim may be particularly fired up for the Ghana match, for he was in goal for a 3-2 loss to the African nation in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.
"Personally, that match really stung," Kim told reporters before a training session at the National Football Center in Cheonan, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul. "Although we still reached the round of 16, I thought I didn't do what I was supposed to do against Ghana at the time. If I have a chance to face them again, I will try to play better than I did back then."
Regardless of which of the two matches he plays this month, Kim said he is grateful simply to be back with the national team after what could have been a career-threatening injury.
"There were times when I wondered if I'd be able to join the national team again after such a big injury," Kim said. "But I gained some confidence after getting into a couple of matches here. But no matter who is on the field, we all want to go as deep into the tournament as we can at the World Cup."
Kim played one match at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and was Jo's backup in 2018 before grabbing the starting gig four years later. He appears on track for his fourth World Cup appearance next summer in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
"Honestly, when I was younger, I was more concerned about my individual performance rather than the team goal," Kim recalled. "Now that I am trying to make it to my fourth World Cup, individual goals will obviously be still important, but the biggest objective is to accomplish our collective goal. We've gone as far as the semifinals (at the 2002 World Cup on home soil) and we will try to match that performance this time."