"Kim Min-jae becomes first Korean player to win Serie A Championship with Napoli"

2023-05-04 23:24:53

[골닷컴] Correspondent Kang Dong-hun = While Napoli, the Italian professional soccer team in Serie A, reached the top after 33 years, Kim Min-jae (26) shared the joy of glory from the first season of the transfer. Taking the lead in winning the championship while playing an active role as a ‘key member’, he said, “I am happy and honored to be a part of a historic achievement.”

Kim Min-jae started in the 2022-2023 season Serie A round 33 away match against Udinese held at Stadio Friuli in Udinese, Italy at 3:45 am (Korean time) on the 5th, and performed brilliantly without fail, leading Napoli’s 1-1 contributed to the draw.

Napoli, who won a draw that day, kept first place (25 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, 80 points), widening the gap with second place Lazio (64 points) to 16 points. In addition, regardless of the results of the remaining 5 games, the Serie A championship was confirmed early. It has been 33 years since the 1989-1990 season, and it is the third ‘Scudetto’ (1986-1987 season, 1989-1990 season, 2022-2023 season).

Kim Min-jae shared the glory of winning. On this day, while playing full-time, he showed off his stable defense as always. According to ‘Who Scored.com’, a soccer statistics media outlet, he recorded 1 kick and 1 interception, 2 successful tackles, and 2 aerial contest victories. In particular, his aggressive forward defense shone.

Kim Min-jae, who wore a Napoli uniform last summer, immediately jumped to the core and played an active role in all directions. He has played 32 matches in Serie A alone to this day. He appeared as a starter in every game except for one. And he took the lead in scoring the least goals (23 goals) by playing almost all games full-time and blocking the back door. In the midst of his outstanding performance, he was also awarded the player of the month last September.

The last time Kim Min-jae experienced a league championship with a club team was five years ago when he was a member of Jeonbuk Hyundai (Korea). It has been 12 years since Park Ji-sung (42), technical director who played for Manchester United in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2010-2011 season, that a Korean player won the league title in the top five European leagues.

In Serie A, he also wrote a great record of being the first Korean to lift the championship trophy. In the meantime, unlike the EPL, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga, and French Ligue 1, few players have been active in Serie A. There are commentators Ahn Jung-hwan and Lee Seung-woo, but none of them have experienced a win. However, Kim Min-jae wrote a new history as he became the first champion. In terms of the Asian continent as a whole, he is second only to Hidetoshi Nakata from Japan.

Kim Min-jae said on his social network service (SNS), “I am very happy and honored to be a part of this historic achievement. Congratulations to the coaching staff, teammates, and fans. Share the joy of winning with everyone who supported Napoli. I want to,” he said, expressing his feeling of winning.