"World Cup championship" → Hong Myung-bo's "surprisingly weak"... Hong Myung-bo Team What the hell made me look like this

*This content was translated by AI.

Ahead of the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup, the atmosphere between South Korea and Japan is extremely mixed. Japan has shown its ambition to win against the world's strongest England and is praised by European masters, while Hong Myung-bo Team suffered a crushing defeat by the African team and was ignored by its group-stage opponents as well as China, which failed to qualify for the World Cup.

The confidence of Japanese soccer is now sky high. Sports media "ESPN" spotlighted on the 31st (Korea time), saying, "Japanese national team coach Hajime Moriyasu directly mentioned the possibility of winning the World Cup ahead of the match against England."

In fact, Moriyasu reportedly declared at a press conference, "If England is the favorite, we are the strongest dark horse to threaten them," adding, "We will check our position against world-class England and prove what we need to do to reach the winning standard."

There is a basis for this confidence. Japan has recently won four straight A matches by defeating Brazil, Ghana, and Scotland. Even England coach Thomas Tuchel, who is famous for his vitriol, said, "Japan has a high level of tactical completion," adding, "If we fail to respond properly to Japan with motivation and skills, we can be beaten."

On the other hand, the reality facing Hong Myung-bo Team is miserable. The aftermath of the 0-4 defeat in the warm-up match against Ivory Coast on the 28th is fierce. Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Son Heung-min (LAFC), and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) collapsed helplessly even after using all key European players. In particular, the ambitious three-back tactic was useless in front of the opponent's individual skills, and he self-destructed by dedicating a goal due to the lack of concentration of the defense.

As a result, Korea's World Cup group-stage partners are openly looking down on Korea. Mexican media "As Mexico" said, "South Korea is questioning the World Cup right around the corner," adding that it was overwhelmed by Ivory Coast even though it used key players. Austria's 'Hoyte', the next opponent in the warm-up match, also said, "Korea showed surprisingly weak performance." There was even no sign of resistance," he criticized.

Even China, which failed to advance to the finals, is laughing at the downfall of Korean soccer. The Chinese media Sohu Dotcom said, "It's great, meeting a real strong team reveals your skills," and "Japan is now No. 1 in Asia." There were more than hundreds of derided comments, such as "Korea is better off with a low-quality team with China."

It is uncertain whether Hong Myung-bo Team, which has fallen into a target of worldwide ridicule, will be able to turn the mood around ahead of the World Cup finals less than three months away. South Korea will face Austria on the 1st in the final match, which is actually the final mock test of the World Cup.

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*This content was translated by AI.