[골닷컴] Correspondent Kang Dong-hun = Napoli defender Kim Min-jae (26) started and had a stable role during the first half before going off the field at half-time. It was reported that the reason for the substitution was not due to injury, but stamina and prevention.
Kim Min-jae started the Italian Serie A Round 17 away match of 2022-2023 season against Sampdoria held at Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy at 2:00 (Korean time) on the 9th and showed stable performance for 45 minutes. Napoli won 2-0 with goals from Victor Osimen (24) and Elif Elmas (23).
Previously on the 5th, Napoli had lost to Inter Milan, the first match restarted after the end of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, ending their 15-match unbeaten run. In a situation where the mood had to be rectified as quickly as possible as the mood was broken, coach Luciano Spalletti (63, Italy) devoted all his energies to him. Kim Min-jae, the core of the defense, sortied without fail. On this day he worked with Joao Jesus (31).
Kim Min-jae ran the “iron wall mode” throughout the first half. He skilfully blocked the development of the opponent’s attack and was not rejected at all in the competition with the ball. Occasionally, he has also contributed to the attack. In particular, in the 39th minute of the first half, Osimen forced the opposing defender out in the breakthrough phase, but it was he who first connected the forward pass.
He showed solid defense in the first half and played an important role, but Kim Min-jae was unexpectedly replaced at halftime. However, that doesn’t seem to be a big deal. According to local reports, the game ended as a precaution.
Kim Min-jae recorded 2 kicks, 1 interception and 1 tackle in the 45th minute of the first half and won once in an aerial contest. The pass rate was 97% (35 out of 36 successful attempts). In particular, he tried 7 long passes and succeeded in 8.
In the midst of that performance, “WhoScored.com”, a media specializing in soccer statistics, gave Kim Min-jae a score of 6.87 after the match. This was the ninth-highest among players starting on the team. Another football statistics media, “Sofascore”, awarded 7 points.
