While the South Korean national soccer team, led by South Korean national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo, has succeeded in avenging the match against Jordan, some of Hong’s answers to the press conference attract attention.
Hong Myung-bo won 2-0 in the away game of Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Amman International Stadium in Jordan at 11 p.m. on the 10th (Korea time). It was a victory that paid Jordan back the losing score he lost in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup earlier this year.
It is a valuable victory as Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Oh Hyun-kyu (Henk) scored goals in a row.
With this victory, Korea had two wins and one draw (seven points, plus goal difference +4) in Group B of the third preliminary round, to overtake Jordan to rank No. 1 in the group. It was ahead of Iraq (seven points, plus goal difference +2), which had taken over Palestine.
After the game, the Korean national soccer team returned home on Wednesday. The team will begin tempering the match against Iraq on Friday.
Coach Hong Myung-bo said in a press conference after the match against Jordan, “I would like to congratulate the players from the bottom of my heart by winning a difficult away match in Jordan,” adding, “I would like to thank the cheering squad once again for coming all the way to Jordan from afar. The players showed better performance today than we had prepared. The things we prepared were also short, but I think we showed perfect performance.”
However, the Korean national team faced a negative situation. Before the start of the game, captain Son Heung-min was taken off the list early due to a hamstring injury, and during the game, Hwang Hee-chan was tackled by an opponent in the 10th minute and was replaced due to an injury to his left ankle.
Hwang Hee-chan, who exited the ground on his coaching staff, returned to Korea early in a wheelchair, adding to his sorrow. On top of that, he suffered knee injury and was substituted for Bae Jun-ho.
When asked about Hwang Hee-chan’s injury status, Hong said, “Since Son Heung-min cannot play in that position right now, the plan B that we have prepared has been activated. Overall, Hwang Hee-chan had a good start, but he was unlucky to get hurt and Um Ji-sung was also injured, which was embarrassing. Given Hwang Hee-chan’s injury, the second game (against Iraq) will not be easy. I will go back and check his condition.”
During the press conference on the day, Hong avoided eye contact with unexpected questions. When reporters asked if the situation would turn around due to the tough times, Hong looked away.
Coach Hong has been embroiled in a controversy over preferential treatment since his official appointment in July, when it was revealed that he had become the national team coach without any preparation. On top of that, it was revealed that technical director Lee Im-saeng, who has been actively involved in the appointment of Hong through the National Assembly questioning process, had no authority under the regulations. 안전놀이터
Coach Hong Myung-bo, who attended as a witness to the National Assembly on the 24th of last month, has no intention of resigning and has expressed his intention to lead the team until the end as the national team coach.
“I have nothing to do with it (controversy over preferential treatment),” said Hong, who turned his attention away from the reporters when asked about it, avoiding a direct answer, saying, “I’m the coach of this team (national team) and I’m only doing what I have to do as a coach.”
“The match (against Jordan) was an important match for the Korean national team,” Hong said. “We had a lot of good communication with the players and prepared a lot during the second call-up. We still have one more game to go. We are happy to finish the match on a good note.”