SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said he understood why fans booed him before, during and after his team’s 0-0 draw with Palestine in their opening match of the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Thursday’s match was Hong’s first in charge since he replaced Juergen Klinsmann as coach in early July and the unpopularity of that decision was clear when he was jeered by crowd of 60,000 at Seoul’s World Cup Stadium before kickoff.
The boos continued every time Hong was shown on the big screen as the South Korea team, captained by Son Heung-min, failed to break down the Palestinians and were perhaps fortunate not to have conceded a goal.
“I understand where the fans come from. This is something I will have to endure going forward,” Hong said of the jeering, Yonhap New Agency reported.
“I think our players did their best until the end, but we got off on the wrong foot to begin this qualification phase.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted in the first half, and we couldn’t capitalise on our chances in the second half.”
South Korea have qualified for the last 10 editions of the World Cup finals and many fans had been hoping for the appointment of a new foreign coach of the calibre of Guus Hiddink, who led the Taeguk Warriors to the semi-finals in 2002.
Hong, the captain of that 2002 team and one of the standout players of the whole tournament, still has time to turn the qualifying campaign around, of course, starting with the second Group B fixture against Oman in Muscat next Tuesday.
“We’ll have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and start our tactical preparation for the next match,” Hong added.
The coach also received support from Son, who said it was upsetting to hear the fans jeering Hong.
“I can’t speak for those fans. I think they had a coach they wanted,” Son said. “But we can’t change this decision. The coach is already in place. As captain of this team, I’d like to ask our fans for their love and support.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Sonali Paul)
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