PSG's Lee Kang-in Scores Twice in South Korea’s 3-1 Win against Bahrain in Asian Cup

 South Korea's midfielder #18 Lee Kang-in celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E football match between South Korea and Bahrain at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on January 15, 2024. (AFP)
South Korea's midfielder #18 Lee Kang-in celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E football match between South Korea and Bahrain at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on January 15, 2024. (AFP)
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PSG's Lee Kang-in Scores Twice in South Korea’s 3-1 Win against Bahrain in Asian Cup

 South Korea's midfielder #18 Lee Kang-in celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E football match between South Korea and Bahrain at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on January 15, 2024. (AFP)
South Korea's midfielder #18 Lee Kang-in celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's third goal during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E football match between South Korea and Bahrain at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on January 15, 2024. (AFP)

Paris Saint-Germain winger Lee Kang-in is used to being overshadowed by Kylian Mbappe at club level. Son Heung-min remains the icon for his national team South Korea.

But with two moments of individual brilliance against Bahrain on Monday, Lee took center stage at the Asian Cup. Not that he seemed comfortable under the spotlight after scoring twice in the second half to inspire South Korea to a 3-1 win in the Group E match.

“It's not just about my two goals. All the goals we score are very important for the team. I would just like to say and highlight that it is not about individual performance,” a modest Lee said afterward.

His coach Jurgen Klinsmann was also restrained in his praise of the forward.

“If you score two in the opening game of the Asian Cup for us you deserve to be man of match and (it was) a very good performance. But I have to keep him on the ground every day,” he said with a smile.

It feels like there is no danger of success going to Lee's head. And as members of the media crowded around after the post-match news conference, he was likely happy to see it was Klinsmann, the World Cup-winning former Germany striker, who was being mobbed with requests for selfies.

Lee was just trying to get back to the locker room at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Earlier he had scored two picture perfect goals to get South Korea off to a winning start in the competition the country hasn't won since back-to-back titles in 1956 and 60.

The game was tied at 1-1 when he took control, giving South Korea a 2-1 lead in the 56th-minute with a left-footed shot from around 30 yards (meters).

He was equally clinical as he scored his second goal 12 minutes later when showing sharp footwork and curling the ball into the bottom corner.

Hwang In-beom had given South Korea a first half lead with a goal in the 38th, but Bahrain equalized six minutes after the break through Abdullah Al Hashash.

“We knew it was not going to be easy to play Bahrain today and it turned out to be scrappy,” Klinsmann said. “We are very pleased to start with three points in the tournament, that is what really matters.”

Two-time champion South Korea hadn’t conceded a goal in its last six Asian Cup group games, spanning the past two tournaments. But that record was put under threat early on when an unmarked Mohamed Marhoon headed over from close range.

It was the first of a number of missed chances for both teams until Hwang’s opener.

South Korea’s Cho Gue-sung fired over with only the goalkeeper to beat and Lee Jae-sung also missed the target at the far post.

Bahrain’s Ali Madan shot wide after bursting into the box.

It was Hwang who finally delivered a precise finish as South Korea went ahead — sweeping a shot past Lutfallah after Lee's cross.

Bahrain continued to create openings in the second half and Komail Al Aswad forced a save from Kim Seung-gyu before Al Hashash struck with a side-footed finish from inside the box.



Man City Facing a Rebuild after Punishing Season as Some Guardiola Stalwarts May Be on the Way out

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
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Man City Facing a Rebuild after Punishing Season as Some Guardiola Stalwarts May Be on the Way out

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)

A big rebuild is coming at Manchester City — and top of the list in the clear-out appears to be the injury-prone stalwarts who cannot hack modern-day football's demanding schedule.

Pep Guardiola was very open Friday about the new "reality" facing City after his most challenging season at a club that has set new standards in the Premier League but is now staring at the end of a dynasty.

A record-extending fifth straight Premier League title is realistically out of reach. The dream of winning another Champions League is over after a two-legged humbling by Real Madrid before even the last 16.

Big changes, it seems, are now necessary.

"It's so demanding," the City manager said. "Teams are quicker, faster and stronger, and we cannot handle it right now."

Most despairing for Guardiola are the injury issues that have rocked his squad all season. Rodri, City's midfield anchor and most important player, damaged his ACL in September and is out for the season. City's four center backs — Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake — have each had long periods out. Kevin De Bruyne looks to be past his best after big injuries and didn't even come off the bench in the one-sided 3-1 loss at Madrid on Wednesday that shone a huge light on City's regression this season.

Guardiola didn't name names when he spoke about certain players not being robust enough to handle an increasingly packed schedule of games every three or four days. But players like Stones, De Bruyne, Ake and even Jack Grealish look to be at risk, along with those in their 30s — like Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic — who have struggled with the physicality of matches this season.

"We have to sit down with the doctors, physios, the players, their agents and be clear that some of them cannot sustain every three days," Guardiola said. "Every month or two months playing every three or four days — this is the reality.

"It's one more year and then a World Cup. And we have already a lot of players who cannot sustain what we have done in the past, every week, playing in different competitions, traveling, without any problems. You (ask) me where am I concerned and it's just that. The quality is there. But there's a lot of quality we cannot use because of the injuries."

'More than 50 games is too much'

With games being added to the schedule, Guardiola knows it's going to get worse. City's campaign this season contains the newly expanded Club World Cup which runs from mid-June to mid-July.

"For many, many years, we have been talking about it. ... More than 50 games is too much for the players, it's too much for the human beings, the body cannot sustain it. We arrive at 65, 70 games and in the end, look what happens. It's not just Man City, it's all the clubs. Madrid had a lot of problems with injuries, too. In the future, it will be getting worse and worse and that's why I say I'm concerned."

The injuries keep coming for Guardiola, too. Stones, who was hurt early against Madrid on Wednesday, might require surgery on an injured quadricep and be out for around two-to-three months — a similar length of time Akanji will miss after a leg injury sustained in the first leg against Madrid.

Erling Haaland missed the second leg in Madrid because of a knee injury and is a doubt for the Premier League game against Liverpool on Sunday.

As for De Bruyne, who has been an unused substitute in the last two games, Guardiola only said it was down to his "decisions" — though he did suggest the midfielder's current physical limitations played a part.

"Never, ever is it personal, never ever am I upset," Guardiola said of De Bruyne. "But for the demands, for the way we need to play for the absence of strength and physicality we have, we need games with more control, not (going) up and down."

The rebuild has started City has already begun its refresh, spending more than $200 million during the recent winter transfer window on five players — midfielder Nico Gonzalez, defenders Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Christian McFarlane, and Egypt forward Omar Marmoush.

That might just be the start of it.