A draw with the Palestinians may seem like an offensive problem, but in reality, it is close to the consequences of the lack of defensive tactics.
South Korea’s men’s national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, played the sixth Group B match in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan, on the 19th (Korea time) and drew 1-1 with the Palestinians. South Korea kept the top spot in the group (14 points), but failed to clearly widen its gap with the second place.
South Korea drew with Palestine in both games. The draw with Palestine at home in September was a matter of normalcy. There were many external factors that would affect the national team’s performance, including not being able to wear enough tactical colors just after coach Hong took office, complaints against the Korea Football Association, and the state of grass at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
It was an inexcusable draw this time. Coach Hong has slowly shown what kind of soccer he wants through his past matches, and due to the nature of away matches in the Middle East, criticism against the Korea Football Association is hard to come out during matches, and the cheering squad has promised to cheer for the players. The grass was not in good condition, but it was definitely better compared to the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Nevertheless, losing to the Palestinians demonstrates that the team easily responded to counterpart tactics first. The Palestinians dealt with the Korean team in the same way as in the last game. They solidly blocked their own side by using two lines of defense, and immediately launched a counterattack by applying pressure at an appropriate timing. Through such defense, they created chances to score or create set piece opportunities to target the Korean goal. Including the pressure that caused Kim Min-jae’s mistake in the 12th minute of the first half, the Palestinians created several good opportunities based on such pressure. At least, Hong should have shown a methodology to break down the two lines of defense or coping with strong pressure, but he failed to produce significant results except for some side attacks that started from several sides.
The consecutive draws with the Palestinians reveal the defense problems of the national team. Since Hong’s inauguration, the national team has been struggling with counterattacks and set-pieces. Just looking at the match against Palestine, the scene where the Palestinians scored a point in the 12th minute of the first half and the scene where the Palestinians drove the attack in the middle of the second half were all counterattacks. Although offside was declared, he completely missed Odey Dabag who returned to the far post with a corner kick in the 4th minute of extra time in the first half. If the Palestinian players had a touch or a little luck, Korea could have been defeated.
It is not just a matter of the upcoming match. The Korean team has lost three consecutive A-match games. It allowed two runs against Iraq and one run against Kuwait. What the team has in common is that it lacked the national defense more than the sharpness of opponent teams’ attacks. In fact, it was only after Ayman Hussein’s superb overhead kick against Iraq and Mohammad Daham’s fantastic volley kick against Kuwait, but Korea’s defense was poor in the process of their swift attack. As pressure and cover worked in different ways, Korea created an environment in which opponents could cross in a comfortable manner. 바카라사이트
Korea is not very good at teamwork under the current defense situation. Although the team makes a 4-4-2 model that modern soccer believes in, it often ends up with meaningless selection of a position. Palestine’s two lines of defense seem to be stronger than other Middle Eastern teams because fullbacks actively step up as needed, and wingers step down to fill the spot. In contrast, Korea tends to use pressure based on individual skills rather than organization. It is hard to say that the defense is perfect when going down. It may not be obvious in Asia, but it is a task that must be solved before going to the World Cup.