LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 17, 2021

Kim Moon-hwan

Press Conference

Los Angeles FC 2, Real Salt Lake 1

Q. Why don't you start, your general thoughts on the match and talk us through his assists.

KIM MOON-HWAN: So coming off back-to-back wins on the road, coming and playing in front of our home fans today is something that we wanted to continue and get our third connective win and we were able to do exactly that. We haven't had a home game in a while, so us being able to come back into the stadium in front of our fans and be able to put on a display where we were able to get the results for the fans, I think is something we are really, really happy with.

As far as the assist goes, it took me a little bit to get my first assist. There was a couple of plays in the game where the chance could have happened but nonetheless, Vela did a solid and put the goal in for me. Looking forward to many opportunities for me to record more assists.

Q. What are the things you learn from a player like Carlos, not only when it comes to soccer performance, but the mentality?

KIM MOON-HWAN: As far as Carlos as a player, what can I say? He's a fantastic player, a world-class player, something that I feel on a day-to-day basis while training with him.

As far as off the field as a person, like I said in the last interview, Carlos was one of the very few people in the beginning to come as the captain. He welcomed me and told me a lot of advice and gave me tips in order for me to get better. I integrated with the team and I'm happy to call somebody like him as my friend and somebody that I really respect as a player.

Q. Can you tell us about the mentality of the group and how you kept pushing to the end to get that win?

KIM MOON-HWAN: Yeah, as far as our mentality, LAFC is a club that is expected to dominate games and for us to be able to take the game and to play our philosophy of football, and for us to take the game to the opponent each game, game in and game out, that's the type of football that we want. So solidity, attacking and dynamic and taking the game to the opposition and that's our philosophy and we were able to continue that. Knowing that's what Bob wanted, we continued to press for that, and I guess you you can call it a little bit of luck. I got a chance to be a little lucky and when we got the opportunity, Carlos put it away.

Q. Can you just tell us about your evolution in getting acclimated to the team? I know when you got here, you were dealing with an injury. How were you able to get better, and now we're seeing your input as a constant threat for the team.

KIM MOON-HWAN: Yeah, for sure, there was a period of transition where I had to get used to a lot of different things, and dealing with the cultural aspect, too. It took me a little bit of time to get used to this style of football as well, too, to understand. But people at the club and the staff members at the club have been very friendly and very welcoming and very patient with me and have really helped me to get to this place so far, and I've gotten to a place where I'm confident to say that I understand the pillars and the things that we want from the team, from a coaching standpoint, and it's something I have to continue to improve on and it's something that I look forward to proving continuously throughout the season.

Q. So starting today, LAFC, I believe they are playing six games over the next three weeks, and the fact that you have to play this many games in such a short amount of time and more likely than not, you'll be traveling to Korea for the World Cup qualifying game and then flying to the Middle East; that's going to require about 20,000 kilometers worth of traveling. Are you ready to deal with that

KIM MOON-HWAN: I think definitely physically it is a tiring process, digesting all these games in a short period of time but national duty is something that you do for your country and is a very big honest for me and something I need to do to show everybody what I'm capable of.

Yes, I am be tired but it's something I look forward to.

As far as MLS games go, yes, we travel away on a plane and we've had some good success in the recent games, so I've actually not really felt too tired. Of course, the recovery process and how I'm going to make my body better through these congested schedules is something the staff and I take very seriously.

With that said, it's something that I'm enjoying at the moment thanks to the results and how it's gone and kind of panned out.