Kim Shin-wook, the reigning MVP of the top-flight South Korean soccer league, was selected on Thursday to represent the country at the upcoming Asian Games on home soil.

Kim, the striker for Ulsan Hyundai in the K League Classic, was one of the 20 players named to South Korea’s Asiad men’s football team. Head coach Lee Kwang-jong announced his roster at a press conference at the Korea Football Association headquarters in Seoul.

Incheon, a metropolitan city west of Seoul, will host the 17th Asian Games from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4, as South Korea seeks its first gold medal since 1986.

Kim was on the senior national team that played at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June.

He started South Korea’s third group stage match against Belgium. South Korea lost that game 1-0 and crashed out of the tournament with a draw and two defeats.

Lee Kwang-jong said he is expecting big things from his 196-centimeter-tall striker.

“Though I haven’t coached him yet, we have talked about the Asian Games before and he is really determined to do well,” Lee said of Kim, who is third in the K League Classic scoring this season with eight goals. “He has great skills for a player his size. I think he should really thrive against the Asian opponents.”

Conspicuous by his absence was Son Heung-min, a versatile winger for the German club Bayer Leverkusen. The Bundesliga team told the KFA Wednesday that it would not release the South Korean star for the Asian Games.

The Asiad football matches aren’t part of the official FIFA match calendar, which means international clubs are under no obligation to make their players available for the continental competition.

Son was South Korea’s most dangerous attacker at the World Cup, scoring a goal and keeping opposing defenders on edge.

Son and Kim are close friends off the field and would have produced good chemistry on the pitch, with the speedy Son creating space for Kim to provide an aerial threat.

Coach Lee refused to lament Son’s absence, saying he has other players who can fill the void on Son’s usual left wing spot.

“We have players like Yun Il-lok of FC Seoul who can step in and contribute,” Lee said of the shifty player who has made eight appearances for the senior national team.

“Football is played by 11 men, and we can fill in the gap when one player is missing.”

Though Son wasn’t named to the team, two other South Koreans from the Bundesliga were picked.

Defensive back Kim Jin-su of TSG Hoffenheim and midfielder Park Joo-ho of Mainz 05 are the only two players on the squad based in Europe.

Park, normally a defensive back, was listed as a midfielder. He was a last-minute injury replacement for Kim before the FIFA World Cup.

Lee said he selected Park for his ability to play multiple positions. (Yonhap)