'There isn't even a single player like that.' Can we really play like this? Hong Myung-bo's excuses won't hold up against this 'disastrous collapse' [World Cup On-Site Analysis]

*This content was translated by AI.

With one reliable link connecting offense and defense on the field gone, Hong Myung-bo's tactical setup collapsed like dominoes. Although a draw would have been enough to qualify for the Round of 32 on their own merit, they suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat against the weakest team, South Africa, and plummeted to third place in the group. Thanks to Mexico's 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic, they narrowly avoided the worst-case scenario of finishing last in the group and being eliminated, but they have now fallen into the humiliating position of having to pray and watch the results of other groups.

The most decisive cause of this defeat against South Africa was the absence of Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), who smoothly connected the midfield and attack, and Hong Myung-bo's inexplicable substitution tactics. With Lee Jae-sung, who had been actively participating in defense and performing his unique role as a linker with his vigorous activity to maintain the national team's balance, missing from the lineup, Korean football lost its way from the first half and was dragged along throughout the match.

South Korea was under pressure throughout the first half, completely exposing the space behind them to South Africa's sharp counterattacks. From the early stages of the first half, passing errors were rampant, causing a mismatch between the midfield and the defensive line. In the 19th minute and the middle of the first half, they conceded decisive shots from Mbangwa and Magoffa, creating near-goal crises that were barely averted by goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo) and the defensive line's physical blocks.

In this frustrating flow, the winning moves chosen by Coach Hong Myung-bo for the second half turned out to be the worst blunders. Immediately after the start of the second half, Hong replaced Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Lee Tae-seok (Austria Vienna), and Baek Seung-ho (Birmingham City) with Son Heung-min (LAFC), Jens Castro (Borussia Mönchengladbach), and Kim Jin-gyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) in a bold change.

The plan was to find a way through by bringing in Kim Jin-gyu, who could make attacking passes, and Castro, who was good at overlapping, and to use the fatigued Son Heung-min as a joker to destroy the space behind the opponent. However, without a linker like Lee Jae-sung to stabilize the center and control the game, simply substituting a large number of players with strong attacking tendencies only made the team's performance more disjointed.

To make matters worse, in the 18th minute of the second half, they conceded a painful first goal to South Africa's Maseko (Maccabi Haifa), and the tactics fell completely into a maze. Once South Africa took the lead, they immediately switched to a full defensive line, and Son Heung-min, who tried to penetrate the space behind, was completely isolated in a narrow area, ending with zero effective shots and losing his signature dribbling ability.

An even more incomprehensible choice came in the 21st minute of the second half. With a goal to equalize desperately needed, Coach Hong replaced key central defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) with Park Jin-seop (Zhejiang FC). This substitution not only reduced defensive stability but also weakened their own height competitiveness in set-piece situations, which could have been the key to the late comeback, making it a self-destructive blunder.

South Korea's second-half attack, which proceeded without ever substituting Lee Jae-sung, was the epitome of monotony. The midfield failed to create any creative passing plays, hitting a wall. With no space visible to break through the dense defense, they resorted to long kicks based on Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain)'s individual ability, repeatedly playing simple football that only targeted the head of Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland), who was substituted in during the second half.

They continued to batter South Africa's goal until the 6th minute of stoppage time, but gained nothing. The stubbornness of not adjusting the midfield tactics despite recognizing the absence of a linker, combined with the reckless substitution timing that completely disrupted the balance between offense and defense, led to Hong Myung-bo's tactical misjudgment that was hard to understand in any way, resulting in a harsh outcome of a historically bad performance.

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*This content was translated by AI.