Home, which is more inconvenient than away... What is the 'home game suppressor' that made Captain SON angry
Home, which is more inconvenient than away... What is the 'home game suppressor' that made Captain SON angry
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The South Korean national soccer team passed it to June without finalizing its decision to advance to the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive years. The biggest reason is that Hong Myung-bo became a home paper tiger at home.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, drew 1-1 with Jordan in the eighth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup at Suwon World Cup Stadium on the 25th.
As a result, South Korea drew 1-1 in Game 7 against Oman at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 20th, and finished both consecutive home games with a draw.
Korea's early decision to advance to the World Cup finals in North China and the U.S., which it had hoped for, has also fallen through. Korea has only two points in its group of two consecutive home matches. Although the team remains atop with 16 points (four wins and four draws), it has yet to confirm its advance to the finals as it is three points shorter than second-ranked Jordan (13 points) and only four points shorter than third-ranked Iraq (12 points). Meanwhile, Japan and Iran have confirmed their advance to the finals in advance in Asia.
In the third qualifying round, up to the second place in each group can qualify for the finals. Whether Korea will advance to the finals or not will be decided until the last 9th and 10th round in June.
Up until the beginning of the third preliminary round, Korea had been leading Group B by an overwhelming margin, and it was expected that it would be easy to make an early decision to advance to the finals. However, poor performance at home games in the last minute has hampered the team. Korea has one win and three draws at home in the third preliminary round. This contrasts with its away performance of three wins and one draw.
Coach Hong Myung-bo said after the match against Jordan, "I haven't been able to produce results at home, but I haven't been able to figure out exactly why."
Poor grass conditions are one of the reasons why South Korea is sluggish in its home game.
The Goyang Stadium, where the match against Oman was held last time, was in poor ground condition to the extent that the grass could be seen dented. Lee Jae-sung (Maints), the oldest member of the national team, said after the game, "It may sound like an excuse, but I'm very sorry for the environment."
Team captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham) directly hit the home ground last year with harsh criticism. "We had difficulties in ball control or dribbling even though we have many talented players in our team," he sighed after the match against Palestine held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in September last year. "On the other hand, it is regrettable that our team is in better condition at the away game."
The poor grass situation is a problem that the opposing team on the road must experience the same. But why is Korea particularly struggling.
Coach Hong Myung-bo said, "I don't know exactly, but there will be difficulties in terms of condition as players playing in Europe come back from Europe."
Many of the best 11 players in the Korean national soccer team, including Son Heung-min, Lee Jae-sung, Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), who are core resources of the Korean national team, as well as Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who failed to play in the match against Jordan due to injury, are European leagues. Compared to the teams that played in the third round of qualifying, Korea has far more players from European leagues. They are a core resource of Korea, and they are accustomed to European grass that is in excellent condition. As a result, Korea has come to display much less adaptability than other teams at home games.
The "environmental difficulties" mentioned by the players seem to include the fact that the national soccer team will not be able to use Paju NFC (National Team Training Center) due to the end of the use contract with Paju City, so they have to play a "de facto away game" by traveling around the hotel in their home games.
In the past, when national team players were called up to Paju NFC, the players could even feel psychological stability by staying in facilities equipped with accommodation and training grounds at the same time. However, the situation is different now that they are in a state of limbo. The expiration date of the Korea Football Association's Paju NFC was terminated at the end of January 2024.
In the second qualifying round for the World Cup held right after the contract to use Paju NFC, Korea only had one win and one draw at home against teams that were lagging behind. The third qualifying round for the World Cup started in September 2024, and the accumulated performance of home games has been lagging far behind that of away games. The performance can be considered as absurd.
Son Heung-min said in an interview with Mixzone right after the match against Jordan, "If we get caught at home, I don't know where we can see the advantage. It may sound like an excuse, but soccer is decided by small details. Every single one is so precious. That's the difference between 1 and 3 points." It is not just the grass condition, but it is also read as an inner meaning of the association's lack of overall player condition management.
Korea was tied with Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, and Kuwait in the third preliminary round in Group B. All of them are Middle East teams except Korea. European players of the Korean national soccer team seem to feel more comfortable in away games because they have a shorter travel distance and better grass conditions than in home games in Korea when they go to the Middle East.
On his poor performance at home, Hong said, "We should continue to improve and develop these areas as well. That is the only way," adding, "We ended up with three consecutive draws in the third qualifying round. I am responsible for that. I apologize to the fans." 토토사이트
"It is true that the result is too disappointing. Still, it is true that we are still at the top of the group," Son said in an interview after the match against Jordan. "We will do our best to maintain our position until we finish the third qualifying round."
South Korea will play its ninth away match against Iraq on June 5 and its 10th home match against Kuwait on June 10.