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The Koreans lost their first two games in
Russia but could still advance to the knockout rounds if they
defeat the world champions and Mexico beat Sweden on Wednesday.
However, their task has been made all the more difficult with
the news that Ki will miss the must-win match against the
Germans in Kazan after picking up a calf injury in Saturday's
2-1 loss to Mexico.
"A medical inspection at a hospital showed that Ki damaged his
left calf muscle," Yonhap News quoted a national team official
as saying on Sunday. "He needs two weeks of treatment."
Ki left the Rostov Arena on crutches, the report said.
Yonhap also quoted a Korea Football Association (KFA) official
as saying they would submit a letter of complaint to world
soccer's governing body FIFA over an incident in the build-up to
Mexico's second goal on Saturday.
Referee Milorad Mazic chose not to penalize Hector Herrera for a
dubious tackle on Ki that allowed the Mexicans to break on a
sweeping counterattack which Javier Hernandez finished off to
make it 2-0.
The KFA official questioned why the Video Assistant Referee
(VAR) system was not used to review the incident, which South
Korea coach Shin Tae-yong described as "100 percent a foul".
"There's a zero percent of chance that the call will be
reversed," the KFA official added.
"We just want to express our regrets and make sure that this
kind of incident never happens again in our next match."
(Writing by Peter Rutherford in Seoul; Editing by Greg
Stutchbury)
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