South Korea manager Hong Myung-bo was torn apart by a hostile press after his side’s 0-1 loss to South Africa on Thursday. South Korea failed to show urgency in their final group-stage game and now find themselves on the brink of an early exit from the tournament.
It turned into a difficult watch for the large number of fans attending the game as South Korea failed to show the urgency and intent required to win. The Korean media arrived at the post-match press conference in a bad mood and wasted little time in questioning Hong.
PRESS ATTACKS KOREA COACH
One reporter even took a sarcastic swipe at the team management, asking whether the squad had suffered food poisoning because otherwise the performance made little sense.
“Was there a pre-match food poisoning incident or some other factor?”
Reports suggest that South Korea’s head coach does not enjoy overwhelming support back home, especially with the side struggling to produce results against stronger teams in recent years. Hong took the question calmly and insisted there were no external reasons behind the performance.
“The match content was not good, but there was absolutely no such issue within the team. I do not want to attribute the reason to such things,” he said.
“It is true that we played our worst match among the three World Cup games,” he added.
WHY DID SON HEUNG-MIN NOT PLAY FULL GAME?
What did not sit well with the Korean press was that their footballing hero Son Heung-min was benched for the opening half. Easily the biggest star in the side, Son came on as a substitute in the second half but had little impact on the game.
Hong explained that the decision was tactical and aimed at preserving Son’s energy so he could influence the match later.
“We thought that when the opponents had a lot of energy it would be better to use Son later in the game, when they started losing energy and there was more space. We wanted to use him when they were weaker,” Hong said.
The head coach put the blame on the team’s midfield, saying they lost too many balls in central areas and disrupted their own rhythm.
South Korea had started brightly but faded midway through the first half as South Africa slowed the tempo in midfield and repeatedly played through balls against a Korean side trying to defend high up the pitch.
“We prepared well, but compared to our previous matches we made too many mistakes in midfield. That’s why my players lost confidence. We knew how we should have played, but we should have done better. Today’s performance was simply not good enough,” Hong added.
The defeat leaves South Korea hanging by a thread. They still have a mathematical chance of reaching the Round of 32, but with a goal difference of -1, progression now looks unlikely.
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