"Eat your fill of disappointment": Hong Myung-bo's team's humiliating return journey, anger even greater than 12 years ago with "strongest lineup" and 48 participating nations

*This content was translated by AI.

"It is the people's will. Eat your fill of disappointment."

Controversy over "connections-based football" arose even during the player selection process. The final result of the 2014 FIFA Brazil World Cup was one draw and two losses. It was the worst performance since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, and on the return journey, pumpkins were thrown at the team.

And 12 years later, coincidentally, under the command of Hong Myung-bo (57) at the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean Cup, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage with one win and two losses, even though the number of participating nations had expanded to 48.

Although the team was assessed as having the strongest lineup in history, expectations were low even before the tournament began. This was largely due to the deep disappointment with Hong Myung-bo's colorless style of football.

Nevertheless, no one expected such a difficult struggle. It was a tournament featuring the largest number of European-based players in history, with 15 players, including Son Heung-min (LA FC), a former English Premier League (EPL) top scorer, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who plays for a two-time UEFA Champions League winner, and defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who plays for one of the world's top three clubs.

Controversy arose even during the selection process, and criticism followed him throughout his tenure. The team failed to win over football fans with its performance and had to accept the worst result in the World Cup.

Although South Korea secured a 2-1 victory against the Czech Republic in the first group stage match, it lost 0-1 to Mexico due to a careless mistake at the end of a poor performance. In the match against South Africa, it lost 0-1 after an inexplicable tactical move that utilized Son Heung-min as a substitute in the second half. Jens Castrof (Borussia Mönchengladbach), who was substituted in during the third match and showed active movement, also ended his World Cup campaign with 45 minutes of play.

At that time 12 years ago, Coach Hong faced heavy criticism for selecting Park Ju-young, who had not received playing time at his club. While player selection is entirely within the head coach's exclusive authority, he cannot be free from responsibility if the results do not support the decision.

Football fans found both the process and the result unacceptable, and on the return journey, some fans even threw pumpkins while shouting, "It is the people's will. Eat your fill of disappointment." Of course, even at that time, there were critical reactions to the actions of some football fans at the scene, indicating that the behavior was somewhat excessive, but it also demonstrated just how much resentment the public held toward Coach Hong Myung-bo.

And again, 12 years later. The hearts of football fans had turned away from the start of the coach selection process. The Korea Football Association, which had stated it would appoint a foreign coach, wasted several months before ultimately appointing Hong Myung-bo. It chose Coach Hong over those who had taken an active stance on the Korean coaching position, for reasons that were hard to accept. Furthermore, according to recent salary risk reports, his annual salary is a staggering 2.16 million euros (approximately 3.782 billion won).

In a tournament with 48 participating nations, the team finished third in the group stage despite having better resources than ever before. South Korea, along with other nations, calculated all possible scenarios and desperately pleaded for help, but the result was devastating.

The national team will return to the country on the 30th via Incheon International Airport. Is it because of the nightmare from 12 years ago? The Korea Football Association announced that it will not hold a separate return ceremony. Even after the worst result in 2014, a scaled-down return ceremony was held, but the "pumpkin incident" occurred at that time.

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*This content was translated by AI.