Fabio Cannavaro (50), former central defender of the Italian national soccer team, and Marco Materazzi (50) praised Kim Min-jae (27, Bayern Munich), a Korean player in the same position.
The two legends entered Korea on the 8th with Ronaldinho (43), a Brazilian star who dominated the same era.
They stay in Korea until the 12th and digest schedules such as youth soccer clinics and Korean cultural experiences.
This event is hosted by Racing City Group, which develops soccer business mainly in Europe, South America and the Middle East, and Traveling, a travel agency specializing in domestic VIP tours and overseas themed tours.
The three legends, including Cannavaro, attended a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in Yeongdeungpo-gu on the 10th as their first official schedule and answered questions from reporters.
Since Cannavaro and Materazzi are former central defenders, a question about Kim Min-jae came up during the Q&A process.
In response, Materazzi joked, “A question for Cannavaro from Naples,” adding, “He is a player with great skills. He played only one year (in Italy) but showed fantastic form. I want to congratulate him on his successful performance.”
Cannavaro has a lot of intersections with Kim Min-jae. He started his career as a player at Min-jae Kim's immediate team, Napoli (Italian Serie A), and after becoming a coach, he watched Min-jae Kim at Guangzhou Hengda, a Chinese professional football team. Kim Min-jae belonged to Beijing Guoan from 2019 to 2021.
Cannavaro recalled, “I saw him firsthand when he was coaching in China, and even then he was a great player, but he made some mistakes.”
Still, he said, “I have grown tremendously over the past check here two years playing in Europe. In Naples, he performed 성인용품 outstandingly based on his confidence,” he said. He was the 'idol' of Naples.”
Cannavaro said, “For the Naples club, Kim Min-jae had to stay. After he left, the fans were very angry,” he said with a smile, “I hope he will come back to Naples even on a trip.”
Cannavaro also praised the other Korean defenders. When he was coaching in China, he coached Kwon Gyeong-won (31) in Tianjin and Park Ji-soo (29) in Guangzhou.
He said, “I am from Italy, so I have a soccer philosophy that values defense, so I have good memories of teaching Korean defenders.”
Meanwhile, Cannavaro, Materazzi and Ronaldinho will visit Korea again in October. These three will play against the Korean Legend Team as part of the Brazilian and Italian Legend Teams in the 'Legend All-Star Game' friendly match on October 21st.