Jens Castrop trains with the South Korea national team. [Yonhap]
Jens Castrop trains with the South Korea national team. [Yonhap]

Jens Castrop, the 23-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder who chose to represent South Korea, has expressed frustration over his limited playing time at his first World Cup.

German tabloid Bild published an interview with Castrop on Thursday in which he opened up about his frustrations at the tournament.

Castrop was born in Düsseldorf to a German father and a Korean mother and holds dual nationality. He chose to represent the Korea Football Association over the German Football Association, joining Hong Myung-bo's squad despite having consistently featured for German youth national teams.

"I gained a lot of experience at the World Cup and it will be something I remember for the rest of my life," Castrop said. "But in terms of matches, things did not go the way any of us had hoped. I am not fully satisfied with how the tournament went for me."

His disappointment was understandable. Castrop was named as a substitute in both the group-stage opener against the Czech Republic and the second match against Mexico, but never set foot on the pitch in either game.

He finally made his World Cup debut against South Africa in the must-win final group-stage match, coming on at the start of the second half.

His entire World Cup amounted to just 45 minutes. He never started a match, and as South Korea fell 1-0 to South Africa and were eliminated, his first World Cup came to an end.

Castrop stopped short of directly criticizing any individual or the coaching staff. But his remarks about not being fully satisfied with how the tournament unfolded, combined with the fact that he played only in the South Africa match, made clear he was not hiding his frustration over the lack of opportunities.

"We were not allowed to go outside because it was deemed too dangerous," he said. "And it was only two days after matches that we could see our families. My whole family took a month off to come and cheer for us — that was really unfortunate. I didn't get to play, and I couldn't even see my family. Other teams seemed to have much better accommodations and conditions."

Looking ahead, Castrop said his personal goal for the new season is to cut down on missed matches. "If I'm out for three or four weeks due to injury, that's unavoidable," he said. "But I don't want to miss games because of minor issues anymore. I want to sort those things out this season."


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