The global sports media “SportsKida” announced on the 24th (Korea Standard Time) that Kim Min-jae was the top among the five centerbacks that showed the best performance of the year. However, Munich legend Matheus turned a blind eye to Kim Min-jae. He was not included in the best 11 players in the first half of the Bundesliga in the 2023-2024 season. First of all, SportsKida explained that Kim Min-jae was named the world’s best center back this year because he contributed greatly to his club’s 33-year victory in Serie A Naples, Italy, in the 2022-2023 season before moving to Munich this season.
“Kim Min-jae is calm and skilled beyond physical,” he said. “Since moving to Munich, he has continued to play as a starting member. He boasts superior ability to defend the rear line. He also has leadership.” After Kim, Hoobeng Diaz of Manchester City ranks second as the center back. He helped Manchester City win three gold medals last season. David Alaba (Real Madrid) ranks third, William Saliba (Anal) ranks fourth, and Virgil van Dijk (Riverpool) ranks fifth. 스포츠토토
In Naples, Kim Min-jae was honored with the Serie A Secretariat’s Player of the Month award in September last year and the Italian Footballer’s Association’s Player of the Month award in October last year for his consistent performances. Kim Min-jae was also “officially” recognized for his performance. In June, Italy’s Serie A named Kim Min-jae as Serie A’s best defender for the 2022-2023 season. It was the first time that the Serie A’s best defender award, which was first established in the 2018-2019 season, went to a winning team member. In addition, Kim Min-jae was the first Asian player to receive the award.
With his performance in Naples, Kim signed a five-year contract with Munich, a prestigious German club, in July. He has been playing as a starting player for Munich this season. Kim, who had been playing as a starting player, scored his Bundesliga debut goal in the 15th round home game against Stuttgart on the 18th. Kim, who started with Dayo Upamecano in the match against Stuttgart (3-0 win), led his team to victory by banking on his outstanding performance in offense and defense.
From the beginning, Kim repeatedly blocked Stuttgart’s attacks, showing off its solidarity. He blocked Dennis Undab’s shot in the box in the ninth minute with a hand-to-hand defense, and his opponent’s counterattack attempt in the 19th minute of the first half was also blocked quickly. A minute later, he cut the ball well over the center line with strong pressure. He also shook the net. Aleksandar Pavlovic scored a free kick in the 24th minute of the first half, and Kim finished with a header. Unfortunately, however, the offside was declared due to a VAR defect. Some cameras were broken and the team failed to check whether it was offside or not.
Kim dominated the air even in attack. He scored Pavlovic’s free kick in the 10th minute of the second half when Harry Kane connected it with his header again. After the match, the Bundesliga’s official website recognized it with Kim’s help. It was his first point of attack in Munich. However, a day later (19th), Kim’s “help” record was gone. It seems that the score has been corrected. After playing like a assist, Kim even scored his debut goal in Munich. Kim jumped into a corner kick from Pavlovic in the 18th minute of the second half and put his head on it, and the ball deflected off the defense and into the goal. The goal was created by overcoming unfair goal cancellation due to VAR defects. Fans filled the Allianz Arena with chants of “Kim.”
The ball stopped in front of Kim Min-jae. He cut off the opponent’s pass with a quick tackle at 22 minutes into the second half, and blocked the forward pass moments later by reading Seru Girashi’s move in advance. Stuttgart had a chance with Girashi, who ranks second in the Bundesliga with 16 goals in total, and Undab, who has eight goals in the league. However, it failed to display any momentum in front of the “iron wall” Kim Min-jae. Neither Girashi nor Undab even had a shot on goal.
It was Kim Min-jae who received the most spotlight after the game. Kim was flying around the clock with one goal, a 93% pass success rate (39/42), one dribble success, one long pass, one tackle success, six interceptions, and six ball ownership recoveries during the 90 minutes. Footmob, a soccer statistics medium, gave Kim an 8.6 rating. The Sofa Score gave Kim the highest score of any player on the two teams with 8.2 points.
All German media gave Kim one point, the highest rating. “Kicker” and “Bild,” who had always scored, both scored the best player of the game. After the game, soccer statistics company “Huskerud Dotcom” also picked Kim as the best 11 players in the first half of the Bundesliga on the 22nd. He earned an average score of 7.14 points in 15 league matches, ranking one of the three backs along with O’Dillon Kosunu and Ta (Reberkusen, 7.01 points). On the 19th, Kim was also informed by the Bundesliga secretariat that he was selected as the best 11 players in the 15th round. He secured a defensive position on the 3-5-2 formation list.
Matheus announced the list of the 11 best players in the first half of the Bundesliga through “Sky Sports Germany” on Wednesday, and instead of Kim Min-jae, he has been named as Bayer Leverkusen’s defense team. Alejandro Grimaldo, Edmond Topsova, Yonatantha, and Jeremy Frimpong, who are guarding Leverkusen, have been named in the list of the 11 best players in the first half of the year by Matheus. Two Leverkusen players are also included in the midfield. Matheus has midfielders consisting of Ezekiel Palacios and Florian Birz (Leverkusen), Xavi Simmons (Lifchich) and Leroy Zane (Munich), while frontline strikers Seru Giraci (Stuttgart) and Harry Kane (Munich) have been selected. Gregor Covel (Dortund) has been chosen by Matheus as the goalkeeper.
Of the 11 players, six were Leverkusen players, while Kane and you were the only two from Munich. It is a roster that somewhat nods its head. Leverkusen is the lone lead in the league with 13 wins and three draws in 16 matches. It is the only undefeated team in the top five European leagues. Munich, on the other hand, has performed well with 12 wins, two draws and one loss in 15 matches, but is four points behind Leverkusen in one more match. Even so, Kim’s elimination leaves some regrets. Kim consistently defended Munich’s defense even as partners Upamecano and The Licht were alternately injured. In addition, considering the lack of a professional defensive midfielder, he deserves a higher score. However, he was ignored.
Kim Min-jae also played better than Leverkusen’s Topsoba and Ta. Munich played one less league game than Leverkusen, but Kim Min-jae played more. Kim played 1903 minutes in 22 matches, while Topsoba played 1,705 minutes in 22 matches, out of all competitions. This demonstrates how important Kim Min-jae plays in Munich. Mateusz also sharpened his lead over Kim last month. “Kim Min-jae is not as outstanding as we expected yet. He has to get used to the Bundesliga first,” he said. “Considering the great honors he has accumulated in Italy, he has yet to meet my expectations.” However, Kim has since become a “debut goal” to evaporate such criticism. Mateusz also appeared to refrain from criticizing Kim and excluded him from the best 11 players in the first half of the year.