South Korea Coach Explains Decision to Bench Son

South Korea's star player and captain, Heung-min Son, was initially benched to exploit the fatigue that would accumulate in the South African squad during the match, explained Asian team coach Hong Myung-bo. However, he admitted that with or without the forward, his team never found its rhythm. The 0-1 loss leaves the Koreans waiting for all group matches to conclude to see if they will be one of the eight third-placed teams to advance.

"We believed that when opponents have a lot of energy, it's better to wait and bring Son on later in the game when they start to tire and more space opens up. We wanted to use him when they were weaker," Hong said when asked about his starting lineup choices. Son came on at halftime, replacing Hwang Hee-chan, but his introduction didn't significantly impact the team.

"We prepared well, but compared to our previous matches, we made too many mistakes in midfield. That's why my players lost confidence. We knew how we should have played, but we needed to perform better. Today's performance simply wasn't good enough," added the experienced specialist, who is at his seventh World Cup – four as a player and his third as a coach.

The Koreans remain on three points, earned in their first match against the Czech Republic. When asked if the team was on a downward trend, the former defender conceded that such an opinion was justified. "Yes, against the Czech Republic, we played our strongest game. Against Mexico, it was quite chaotic because the hosts undoubtedly have the most class in this group and gave us the most trouble," he added.