Veteran midfielder Lee Jae-sung gears up for 'final' World Cup

Midfielder Lee Jae-sung is preparing for his third FIFA World Cup, which kicks off next week in Mexico for Korea. The 33-year-old believes it will also be his last one.

Lee previously represented the country at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Captain Son Heung-min, another 33-year-old and a close friend of Lee's, hasn't ruled out the possibility of playing in 2030. But Lee was fairly sure on Tuesday that he won't be around for another World Cup.

“I think this will be my final World Cup as a player,” Lee told reporters before a training session at Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. “You just never know when you will have another opportunity like this. Every player here is not thinking about the next World Cup. We are all concentrating on this year's World Cup.”

The soft-spoken veteran said his previous World Cup experience has done little to calm his nerves ahead of his third appearance.

“I think I will get even more nervous as we get closer to the tournament, because I know how precious and how important this opportunity is,” Lee said. “But I am ready to embrace these feelings.”

Lee had the same message for 14 of his teammates who have never been to a World Cup before.

“Our biggest goal is to stick around as long as we can,” Lee said when asked what he'd like to accomplish. “This is a privilege that only the countries that qualified for the World Cup can enjoy, and we want to share this with our people back home.”

Lee is a playmaking midfielder who can create chances for wingers or forwards up front. But the versatile veteran logged minutes as a defensive midfielder next to Hwang In-beom in Korea's 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

“In-beom is such a great player, and since we've played together on the national team for so long, we already know how the other likes to play,” Lee said. “I think that was the first time we played as a tandem in the midfield, but I think I am capable of making life easy for my teammates no matter where I play.”

Korea will next play El Salvador at BYU South Field in Provo for their final friendly before the World Cup. 

Korea will play all three of its Group A matches in Mexico. They will kick things off against Czechia in Guadalajara starting at 8 p.m. on June 11.

Yonhap