'A series of humiliations': Hong Myung-bo humiliated again, foreign media spotlight 'food poisoning' question at press conference

*This content was translated by AI.

It was truly a continuous series of humiliating situations. Following South Korea's shocking defeat to South Africa in a poor performance that ended their hopes of direct qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 32, the fallout continues. Even the sharp questions posed by reporters during the official press conference immediately after that match are now being reported to the world through foreign media outlets.

The South Korean national football team, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, lost 0-1 to South Africa in the final Group A match of the tournament held on the 25th (Korea time) at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico. South Korea would have secured direct qualification for the round of 32 by finishing second in the group with just a draw against South Africa on this day, but they failed to seize even the overwhelmingly favorable opportunity and suffered a defeat.

It was not just the result that was shocking. On this day, Hong Myung-bo's team played a truly poor match against South Africa, ranked 60th in the FIFA rankings. There were multiple instances where they barely avoided additional goals due to the opposing attackers' lack of finishing ability. Kim Hwan, a JTBC commentator, said, "It was a match where they could have conceded three or four more goals." The powerless performance was a greater source of anger than the failure to advance to the round of 32.

The question that directly targeted coach Hong Myung-bo at the post-match press conference was in the same vein. A domestic reporter asked Hong Myung-bo, "Were there any uncontrollable factors such as food poisoning before the match? If not, the performance seemed hard to understand easily." This was a question that could have severely damaged Hong Myung-bo's pride.

Nevertheless, the fact that he could not offer any particular reaction or answer to this was an even more humiliating situation for Coach Hong. Hong Myung-bo stated, "The match content was not good, but there was absolutely no such issue (such as food poisoning) within the team. I do not want to attribute the reason to that side," and added only, "It is true that we played our worst match among the three World Cup games."

This press conference atmosphere also drew attention from foreign media. Man in Blazer, which had previously conducted a solo interview with Son Heung-min, reported, "The reaction of Korean media to the South Korean national team's performance against South Africa was very cold. One reporter even asked Coach Hong Myung-bo, 'Could it have been caused by food poisoning?' It was reported that Coach Hong Myung-bo, who is being criticized for benching Son Heung-min, denied this. South Korea will have to wait anxiously for the possibility of advancing to the round of 32 by finishing third in the group."

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*This content was translated by AI.