Ryu Ji-hyun's frank remarks, "If you think about the preparation process, it's unfair and decomposed → There must be good results."

*This content was translated by AI.

"It's so unfair and upsetting to look back on the process we've been preparing for."

Ryu Ji-hyun (55), the coach of the South Korean national baseball team, who is on the brink of a cliff, planted "criticism" and "belief" in the team at the same time ahead of the match of fate against Australia.

The Korean baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), will play the fourth match of Group C of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Tokyo Dome, Japan, at 7 p.m. on the 9th. South Korea, which is on the verge of elimination with one win and two losses due to losing the match against Taiwan on the 8th, is in a situation where it has to win Australia by more than five points in this match with conditions of two runs or less. The rest of the cases are South Korea's failure to advance to the quarterfinals.

Coach Ryu Ji-hyun, who held an official press conference ahead of the game, continued to speak in a calm but strong tone, revealing the details of the team's meeting before going to the Tokyo Dome. "It's a difficult situation, but in a way, it's a game that gave us a chance again," he said. "I asked the players to think a little more positively."

In particular, he ordered not to be buried in the harsh winning conditions of "victory by more than 5 points and less than 2 runs." Coach Ryu said, "If you are too tied to specific scores and are chased and urgent, you can get a bad result," adding, "If you do your part within 3 hours of the game, you will definitely have good results." We have enough time," he stressed.

Coach Ryu Ji-hyun has been working hard on preparing for the WBC since February 2025. It is already famous that the tournament has been constantly prepared since January, starting with Saipan camp. Despite preparing more thoroughly than ever with the generational change and joining the major leagues in this tournament, he also expressed his honest feelings about the situation in which he failed to advance on his own due to the defeat in Taiwan.

Coach Ryu said, "It's so unfair and upsetting to look back on the processes we've been doing so far," adding, "If you have such a mindset, it will definitely be a strength in the stadium." He added, "I said let's play with the belief that something will be done until the end."

The mound is also an all-out war. "All pitchers except four pitchers (Ko Young-pyo, Kwak Bin, Ryu Hyun-jin, and Ko Woo-seok) who cannot appear will go out," manager Ryu said, effectively issuing a "waiting order for all."

Korea is Kim Do-young (third baseman, KIA Tigers)-The lineup was formed in the order of Germay Jones (left fielder, Detroit Tigers) and Lee Jung-hoo (center fielder, San Francisco Giants), Ahn Hyun-min (right wing, KT Wiz), Moon Bo-kyung (designated hitter, LG Twins), Noh Si-hwan (first baseman, Hanwha Eagles), Kim Joo-won (striker, NC Dinos), Park Dong-won (catcher, LG Twins) and Shin Min-jae (second baseman, LG Twins).

Compared to the previous day's match against Taiwan (8th), Noh Si-hwan and Shin Min-jae were newly introduced, and Shay Witcom and Kim Hye-sung were missing. According to Ryu Ji-hyun, Kim Hye-sung's fingers are uncomfortable while trying to steal in the 10th inning against Taiwan.

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*This content was translated by AI.