In this wonderful world of football, you have certainly not escaped the footix, these somewhat cardboard supporters who move from team to team depending on (good) results. You won’t escape, either, especially if you follow Paris Saint-Germain, who host Newcastle on Tuesday in the Champions League, from the Kang-in Lix, these supporters who move from team to team according to Kang’s movements -in Lee. Yes, because the recruitment of the South Korean midfielder this summer caused the massive arrival of new fans.
If you hang around the Parc des Princes on a match night, next to the Mbappé or Zaire-Emery flocked jerseys, you will see a flock of supporters with that of Kang-in Lee and his number 19, often accompanied by the Taegeukgi, the South Korean flag. Like Jeong-Hoon (22 years old) and Sang-Woo (23 years old), two friends who met on Friday, on the sidelines of the match against Monaco (5-2), who came specially from Seoul to see their idol play. And, national drama, Lee did not play a single minute of the match. “It’s a pride to see him here, with Mbappé and all these great players,” they explained to us before the meeting. We don’t know if we can come back. The trip is very expensive, and we are students. »
“There was a South Korean legion coming to see him”
Other compatriots waited, in vain, for the prodigal player after the meeting at the exit of the parking lot, in the hope of being able to take a photo or have an autograph. A scene that has been repeated tirelessly for several years, even when Kang-in Lee was playing in Valencia, where he arrived at the age of 10, and in Mallorca, where the kid (22 years old) spent two seasons before signing to PSG for 22 million euros this summer.
What was happening around him was spectacular, remembers Miguel Chacartegui, journalist at Mallorca Diary. Just at the training sessions, there was a South Korean legion, who came specially to see him. And when we went to a press conference, we saw them waiting at the doors of the training center to see him or take a photo with him. Same as Son Moix [le stade du RCDM], after the match, they were waiting in line. »
It must be said that a whole generation of South Koreans grew up with Kang-in Lee, a bit like us with Loana and Jean-Edouard, present in a television program at the age of 6. It was in “Fly Shoot Dori”, in 2007, a reality TV show which allowed kids to train with coaches. “Even at 6 years old, his talent was obvious and he represented the future of Korean football,” says Jim Bulley, journalist at Korea JoongAng Daily. He continued to be followed when he started playing in the youth teams in Korea, before moving to Valencia. Even though he was a well-known figure, his fame only increased after the U20 World Cup in 2019.”
At 6 years old in a reality TV show
At 18, the boy found a way to bring his team to the final of the tournament and was, in addition, voted best player of the competition, a first for a South Korean. It didn’t take much for the machine to get carried away. And his arrival at PSG this summer only confirmed the hype around the player. And around his new club, above all. “Kang-in Lee is one of the most popular athletes here, so his signing for PSG, or even the fact that Paris is coming to tour South Korea this summer, hasn’t changed much on that point. . Especially since his name goes beyond football, even people who don’t follow football know him, notes Jim Bulley. On the other hand, it has a huge impact on the popularity of PSG here. »
You only have to look at the number of people wearing PSG jerseys during national team matches, “hundreds”, according to Bulley, who mingle with Tottenham jerseys (Heung-min Son), of Bayern (Kim-min Jae) or Wolverhampton (Hee-chan Hwang)… Moreover, the shirt of the number 19 of PSG is the most sold, even ahead of that of Kylian Mbappé, on the Internet, reports The Parisian. In stores, Kang-in Lee’s jersey is the second most featured (and the second most sold, too) behind the captain of the France team, even ahead of Ousmane Dembélé’s. Figures that do not surprise Jim Bulley:
The same thing is happening with Son at Tottenham. For several years his jersey was the best-seller in the Tottenham store in London because there were so many Koreans traveling to see him play. Today, on Instagram, you only have photos of Koreans posing with Kang-in Lee’s jersey in Paris. »
Coordinate tourism and PSG matches
Mihye Blin is well placed to know. The director of the travel agency Entre Paris et Seoul, based in the French capital, receives a lot of requests from Koreans wanting to attend a match at the Parc des Princes: “Before Lee Kang-in is in Paris, the Koreans didn’t care about PSG. People try to coordinate their trip with a PSG match. Since September, through my agency, we must have sent 200 Koreans to a PSG match. »
And what does the person concerned think about it? After his great entry, with a goal, into the Champions League against AC Milan at the Parc des Princes, the former Valencia player was sent in front of the microphones. And obviously, we asked him the question about the enthusiasm he aroused. “Above all, I want to thank the Paris fans, and my fans. And I will always try, every day, to help my team so that we can improve. » So there’s no need to talk a lot to maintain a myth.