Still, there was no direction for “Hong Myung-bo.”
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 3-1 in the second Group B match of the Asian qualifying round for the ‘2026 FIFA North-China World Cup’ against Oman at Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman on the 10th (Korea time).
The national soccer team drew the first match against Palestine at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 5th after a rough match. South Korea, ranked 23rd by FIFA, had to settle for one point without even creating a few decent attack chances against 96th-ranked Palestine.
Hong’s return match to the national team for the first time in 10 years was full of disappointment. The soccer fans also criticized him. Fans gathered at the stadium and booed at Hong, and Kim Min-jae, the main defender of the national team, clashed with the fans. Fortunately, conflict between Kim and fans was resolved, but fans still could not trust him.
Still, Hong had nothing to offer in the first match against the Palestinians. He is running out of time. Since taking the helm of the national team in July, Hong has not had enough time to call in players from overseas and domestic countries to display the color of his tactics.
Coach Hong, who vowed to show his changed performance in the second round, prepared for the second round. The starting lineup has also been replaced by five players. Oh Se-hoon was selected as frontline strikers instead of Joo Min-kyu, while Jeong Seung-hyun, Lee Myung-jae, Park Yong-woo and Hwang Hee-chan were also listed.
Korea continued to display arrogance from the beginning. Korea scored the first goal in the first nine minutes. Outside the penalty area, Hwang Hee-chan, who received Son Heung-min’s pass, attempted a right-footed mid-range shot, and Hwang Hee-chan’s shot penetrated the Omani goalkeeper and shook the net.
However, the joy did not last long. Korea started to lose momentum to Oman midway through the first half. As Oman attempted a long pass and sought space behind the defense, Korea was more urgent to clear the ball than to build up, and continued to yield the right to Oman. 메이저놀이터
In the end, Korea allowed an equalizer. In the first half extra time, Seol committed an unreasonable foul on the right side and gave away a free kick as he was shown a yellow card. Oman immediately kicked a free kick in front of the goal. The free kick hit Jung’s head and was inserted into the corner of the goal, leading to an own goal.
The first half ended 1-1. Korea made all-out offensive to score additional points, but failed to open Oman’s goal until midway through the second half. Their weaknesses in the first round were also revealed in the match against Oman. Korea failed to break through Oman’s defense line when it was down.