Lee Kang-in’s First Appearance in a Match Following the ‘Punching’ Scandal with Son Heung-min

On the morning of February 18th, midfielder Lee Kang-in started for PSG as they played away against Nantes in Ligue 1. It’s worth noting that this is the first time the 21-year-old midfielder has appeared in public since the scandal involving a scuffle with his senior colleague Son Heung-min came to light.

According to Hankooki, Coupang – the platform holding the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 matches on the internet in South Korea – has “removed” Lee Kang-in’s image from their homepage. Previously, in every PSG match, Coupang almost always featured Lee Kang-in on their posters. However, in the recent match, only the star Kylian Mbappe appeared.

Returning to the match, Lee Kang-in played 61 minutes as PSG defeated Nantes 2-0. He performed well, creating two dangerous opportunities for his teammates and achieving a passing accuracy rate of 90%. Kang-in was rated 7.3 by Sofascore.

According to Yonhap, the scuffle took place during preparations for the 2023 Asian Cup semi-final against Jordan on February 6th. A group of three South Korean players, including Lee Kang-in, intended to play table tennis after dinner. As team captain, Son Heung-min disagreed, wanting the entire team to focus on the upcoming match. This led to a clash between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in.

After the incident was exposed on February 14th, Son Heung-min received widespread support. Lee Kang-in apologized for his actions. However, he still faces criticism from some fans. Some brands are also considering ending their collaborations with Kang-in.

Source: K14