Ahead of the match against Oman, Korea national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo (55) said, “Criticism is something that the coach should take,” and asked for support for the Taegeuk Warriors.
After arriving in Oman on the 7th (local time), Coach Hong met with reporters and said, “I ask you to send your support to the players.”
He said about the controversy surrounding the Korea Football Association and himself, “Rather than linking it to (the players and the game), I think our players have to play anyway, so I would be grateful if you could help them do a little better.”
Kim Min-jae (27, Munich) said about the controversy caused by his friction with fans, “In some ways, I think it was because of me and the coach.”
In the previous match against Palestine, after the referee blew the final whistle, Kim Min-jae walked towards the Red Devils cheering section with his hand on his waist and appeared to be asking for restraint. The official cheering squad stated, “We are disappointed with the player’s way of expressing himself.”
In response, Coach Hong said in an interview that day, “The Kim Min-jae I know is a player who is grateful to the fans,” and “He is a player who plays knowing that the support of the fans gives him strength.” He added, “I don’t know what his intentions were,” and “The coach should take the blame.”
●“There will be changes in the Oman War… Cohesion and cohesion are most important”
When asked how he will prepare for the upcoming match against Oman, Coach Hong said, “This is my first time experiencing something like this, so I don’t know yet how the atmosphere, flow, and players’ thoughts from the previous match will continue in the next match,” and added, “There will be changes.” He said, “The unity and cohesion of the players are the most important,” and “My role is to produce good results in this situation. I hope the players don’t think about other things unnecessarily and just focus on the match.”
Regarding the Palestine match, he said, “In the last Palestine match, there wasn’t enough time to do that,” and “The positive thing was that the second half was better than the first half.” He continued, “In the first half, there were parts where players tried to receive the ball, so the players came down, and when the ball had to go forward, we were short of numbers.”
He said, “I know the players have the ball, but I want them to be aware of its purpose,” and “We have possession to play the type of game we want to play, to create it the way we intend to play it.” He also said, “We pass the ball around too steadily, so it’s hard to break through a dense defense. I know from playing these games that it’s not easy to break through a dense defense without a counter-transition.”
He said, “After the match (against Palestine), I didn’t talk to any particular player or group of players,” but added, “Looking at the overall match, I felt regretful, but I told them that I saw them give their best until the end, and that they should prepare well for the next match.”
●The players who continued training in a bright atmosphere will play the second match against Oman on the 10th
The South Korean national soccer team led by coach Hong arrived at Muscat International Airport in Oman on the 7th. The 26 players trained for about an hour at Al Seeb Stadium at 6:00 PM on the 7th, local time in Oman. The somewhat subdued atmosphere of the national team came alive as they were welcomed by officials from the Oman Embassy and Korean residents at Muscat International Airport, and the players continued their training in a bright atmosphere.
The training was conducted at a relatively low intensity, focusing on adaptation to the local environment and recovery in Oman. 13 players who started in the Palestine match, including Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham), Lee Kang-in (23, Paris Saint-Germain), and substitutes, including Oh Se-hoon (25, Machida Zelbia) and Hwang Hee-chan (28, Wolverhampton), who played relatively long minutes, were focused on recovery. The other 13 players warmed up for 25 minutes and then did light training using soccer balls and goal posts.
On this day, Coach Hong said about the players’ condition, “In the case of players playing in Europe, they arrived on the 3rd, waited for 15-16 hours, trained and played on the 4th and 5th, and rested on the 6th.” He said, “It’s hard to manage physical strength and jet lag.” He continued, “The players played before the game without fully recovering.” He said, “There were physical difficulties, and this time it’s the same, but I think it’ll be a little better than the last game.”
The Korean national soccer team will play against Oman in the second match of Group B in the 2026 North & Central America World Cup Asian 3rd qualifying round at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman, at 11:00 PM on the 10th, Korean time.
Earlier, Hong Myung-bo played an unexpectedly poor game in the first match of Group B of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian 3rd qualifying round against Palestine held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 5th, ending the match with a 0-0 draw. The ‘shocking’ draw, which was no different from the first A-match loss in the history of Korea, ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings, and Palestine, ranked 96th, received much criticism.
This match was the first A match played by Coach Hong, who took charge of the national soccer team for the second time in July of this year, in 10 years and 3 months. Coach Hong, who led the national team in the 2014 Brazil World Cup held in June, resigned after the tournament, taking responsibility for the team’s poor performance (1 draw, 2 losses, elimination from the group stage).
2024-09-08 16:10:38