'Such a humiliating series of days' marks the tragic end of Hong Myung-bo's second term... Even the 'historically lucky draw' was kicked away, repeating a 'dark history' [World Cup On-Site Issues]

*This content was translated by AI.

The commander, who had vowed to restore the nation's honor and once again took charge of South Korean football, completely collapsed by repeating the disastrous failure from Brazil 12 years ago on the North American stage. Once again, plagued by tactical incompetence and powerless, futile matches, Head Coach Hong Myung-bo brought about a major disaster. Even until the moment he was pushed to the brink, he showed an overly optimistic hope, but ultimately the last spark of survival was completely extinguished.

This tournament, restructured for the first time with 48 participating nations, presented a threshold for advancing to the knockout stage that was the lowest in history, offering South Korean football an opportunity akin to a free-for-all. Starting with avoiding top-tier nations in Pot 1 and drawing host nation Mexico, followed by being grouped with Czech Republic and the weakest team, South Africa, the group draw was accepted as the most favorable in any previous tournament.

Although advancing to the Round of 32 seemed a foregone conclusion after the opening victory against Czech Republic (2-1), Hong Myung-bo's team shamelessly squandered this opportunity. After losing to Mexico (0-1), they collapsed powerlessly 0-1 even in the final match against South Africa, where a draw would have been enough to reach the knockout stage, falling to third place in the group after a futile match with no room for justification.

Even immediately after the crushing defeat against South Africa, Head Coach Hong Myung-bo appeared to be trying hard to maintain composure. In an interview the day after the match against South Africa, he declared a direct breakthrough: "We must rebuild the team somehow. It is not over yet. If we compose ourselves well in the remaining period and achieve good results in the Round of 32, the players will be able to receive applause again."

Even Coach Hong stated, "I take full responsibility for the results. Since we did not perform as well as we prepared, it is entirely acceptable to say that the coach's role in preparing was wrong," acknowledging the failure, while also expressing frustration: "It is surprising even to me and the coaching staff why such a performance suddenly emerged. There is no physical difference according to the data, but it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why they appear very slow and as if they are not running."

He also added, "It seems environmental factors, such as the hot weather in Monterrey, made adaptation difficult," using psychological pressure and the weather as excuses.

Regarding rumors of discord within the team raised both inside and outside the football community, he firmly shut it down: "I do not think there is any dissonance or problem within the squad. The atmosphere in the Lee Beon (CEO) team is very good." Regarding Son Heung-min, who remained silent, he defended him, saying, "Considering the physical burden and the hot weather, we intended to bring him on later," and added, "Son Heung-min is always fulfilling his duties well by opening up space." Even when criticized for failing to decipher the opponent's tactics, he insisted on sticking to the existing approach, stating, "Suddenly changing the tactical framework we have organically developed would actually be harmful to the players."

However, contrary to the commander's overly optimistic expectations, the cold reality's hope was already as good as dead. Immediately after the group stage ended, several scenarios remained possible, but as upsets occurred in other groups, the only scenario needed for South Korea materialized and then collapsed. As Ecuador, Sweden, Paraguay, and Iran sequentially secured points and settled in, South Korea's chances of advancing plummeted in an instant.

Even in the final Group K match, where the last spark of hope was placed, Uzbekistan suffered a heavy 1-3 defeat to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing the final elimination prevention scenario to fail. The miracle and hope that Coach Hong had secretly hoped for vanished in vain.

Ultimately, falling into the abyss without any upsets, Hong Myung-bo's journey in North America ended with a shameful disaster that will be recorded in history as a group stage exit. Even on the easiest stage in history, the first 48-nation World Cup, South Korean football suffered the humiliation of two consecutive powerlessness losses and had to pack their bags without even getting to watch the knockout stage.

Thus, Head Coach Hong Myung-bo, who had vowed to restore honor, repeated the crushing defeat from Brazil 12 years ago in an even more humiliating form, remaining as the commander who collapsed tragically in South Korean football.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.