'Olympic Frustration' Hwang Sun-hong Also Bowing in Apology... Hong Myung-bo 'Secretly Returning Home' Scheduled

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korea national football team, eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup North America group stage, will return home one by one starting from the 30th. Although Hong Myung-bo, the national team head coach who declared his resignation from the national team coaching position early on in the local area, is expected to return home immediately after landing without even a separate interview.

According to the football community on the 29th, eight players including Hong Myung-bo, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), and Seol Young-woo (Crvena Zvezda) will return home via Incheon International Airport on the morning of the following day. Because the team could not secure return flights in advance as they calculated the possibilities of advancing to the round of 32 until the last moment, the national team will not return all at once but will depart in groups.

There has never been a return ceremony for the World Cup national team at the airport regardless of the World Cup performance. This is the first time since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup that the World Cup national team has not held a return ceremony at the airport. Even during the 2014 Brazil tournament, which Hong Myung-bo led to elimination with one draw and two losses, a return ceremony was held at the airport. That was the tournament where the so-called 'egg shower' was directed at the delegation.

The fact that the delegation cannot return all at once cannot be the reason for not holding a return ceremony. The Hong Myung-bo team had already sent only some players to the main base first when they departed last month, and at that time, they held a departure ceremony by taking commemorative photos with prepared banners and having high-ranking association officials attend to see them off. Ultimately, this is a decision made in consideration of the angry public opinion resulting from the poor performance in the North American World Cup.

It is also interpreted in the same context that Hong Myung-bo and other players will disband immediately without any separate media activities at the airport, such as interviews. Even the Football Association has not shared the flight numbers of the players, including the head coach, with the media. This is because if detailed schedules such as flight numbers were reported in the news, fans might visit the airport, which could lead to safety issues.

Thanks to this, it appears that Hong Myung-bo will leave the airport immediately after returning home today without a separate interview. Regarding his future plans, he has already announced his position in Mexico that "I want to step down from the position of head coach of the South Korea national football team." However, aside from stating his intention to resign, he did not receive any separate questions from the media, and according to the Football Association's notice that "there will be no media activities after returning home," it is highly likely that Hong Myung-bo will return home immediately after returning home today with immediate security protection.

This is different from other national team commanders who were either applauded or bowed their heads immediately upon returning home depending on the tournament results. Just last year, during the 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup, Hwang Sun-hong, who failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 40 years after being eliminated in the quarterfinals, bowed his head immediately after returning home, saying, "I am sorry and regretful to everyone and our players. I believe the responsibility lies entirely with me, the coach. I deeply feel the responsibility."

However, the interview with Hwang Sun-hong at that time was not just an apology. At that time, Coach Hwang apologized for the result of Olympic elimination after 40 years, and at the same time, he also voiced his call for the development of Korean football at this age level, saying, "The operating structure and system of teams at this age level must be absolutely changed" or "We must listen to the voices on the ground and work together to find a way."

Even if a team performs poorly in a tournament, as before, the airport interview after returning home was an opportunity to look back on the tournament beyond just the results, diagnose problems, and consider future improvement directions. However, Hong Myung-bo has no intention of sitting in the 'uncomfortable seat' that will be set up at the airport immediately after the second World Cup failure, and the Korean Football Association also has no plan to put the head coach in that seat. The bitter reality of Korean football is that after finishing a World Cup prepared for four years, nothing happens at the return site.

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*This content was translated by AI.