Kim Seung-gyu ( ko, 김승규; born 30 September 1990) is a South Korean football player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club Al Shabab and the

South Korea national football team The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in men's international football and is governed by the Korea Football Association. South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia ...

Club career

Kim was a much-anticipated youth player of

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League ...

, and joined the senior team after graduating middle school. However, he usually played in reserve team and high school's team for a long time. He became Ulsan's main goalkeeper after showing impressive performances in important opportunities while existing goalkeeper Kim Young-kwang was injured in 2013. He was also selected for the

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appearanc ...

in that season. When playing for

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matc ...

, Kim was selected as one of three outstanding J.League goalkeepers in the 2016 season, who were nominated for the

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

, but lost to

Shusaku Nishikawa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Urawa Red Diamonds. Club career Nishikawa is a product of Oita's youth system and was promoted to the top team in 2005. He made his J1 League debut on 2 July 2005 for Oita Tr ...

. Kim joined

club Al-Shabab on 6 July 2022. He kept the third highest number of clean sheets with 11 clean sheets in the 2022–23 Saudi Pro League. He kept clean sheets in all four matches until the quarter-finals of the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, but conceded three goals in a semi-final defeat against Al-Hilal.

International career

2014 World Cup

Kim made his senior international debut against

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on 14 August 2013 in a goalless draw, keeping a clean sheet in his debut. Kim was named in South Korea's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup as the second-choice goalkeeper behind

Jung Sung-ryong Jung Sung-ryong (; ; born 4 January 1985) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Kawasaki Frontale. Early life Jung was born in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and grew up in Gwangju. Jung began playing football when his ...

. He did not play the first two games, but after Jung's poor performance against

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he was selected to play against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He made numerous saves, but conceded one as Korea lost 1–0. Despite the loss, Kim was well praised by the fans for his performance, conceding only one goal against one of the top ranked teams in the world on his World Cup debut.

2014 Asian Games

Kim was named as an over-aged player for the South Korean under-23 team to play in the 2014 Asian Games. Kim helped his team get a gold medal for the first time in 28 years. Kim conceded no goals in the six matches he played and was granted a military exemption. Kim was selected for South Korea's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but the manager

Shin Tae-yong Shin Tae-yong (, Hanja: 申台龍; born on 11 May 1970) is a South Korean former professional footballer and manager who is currently coaching the Indonesia national football team. He is the first man to win the Asian Club Championship/AFC Cha ...

chose

Jo Hyeon-woo Jo Hyeon-woo ( ko, 조현우; born 25 September 1991) is a South Korean footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Ulsan Hyundai and the South Korean national team. Early life Jo was raised by his mother and father who was a gymnast in Seoul. Jo ...

as his main goalkeeper, and so he couldn't appear during the competition.

2022 World Cup

After the 2018 World Cup, South Korea's next manager

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...

had great faith in Kim. He participated in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 F ...

, conceding two goals during five matches until the quarter-finals. In the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

, he conceded only three goals during 14 appearances, helping South Korea qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, Kim participated in the World Cup as the first-choice goalkeeper for the first time. During the group stage, he was criticised for failing to block any of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

's three shots on target, but proved his abilities by conceding only one goal against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He met Brazilian forwards in the round of 16, and struggled to defend against them in a 4–1 defeat.

Style of play

Known as one of the most versatile goalkeepers in South Korea, Kim is originally noted for his quick reflexes and movement, and also polished up his passing skills in the J1 League.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ulsan Hyundai *

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Champions List of finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statis ...

: 2011 * AFC Champions League:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Kashiwa Reysol *

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of Y ...

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

South Korea U23 * Asian Games:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

South Korea * AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 2015 * EAFF Championship: 2015,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * K League 1 Best XI:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

* EAFF Championship Best Goalkeeper:

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Profile at Vissel Kobe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Seung-gyu 1990 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers South Korean men's footballers Ulsan Hyundai FC players Vissel Kobe players Kashiwa Reysol players Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players K League 1 players J1 League players Saudi Pro League players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Footballers from Ulsan Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games 2018 FIFA World Cup players South Korea men's youth international footballers South Korea men's under-20 international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers South Korea men's international footballers South Korean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century South Korean people 2022 FIFA World Cup players