Crucial Match Against Czech Republic Today: Son Heung-min Says, "I Want to Bloom on the Stage of My Dreams"

[Anchor]

The South Korean national football team will play its first match of the North and Central America World Cup against the European dark horse, the Czech Republic, today (June 12). Captain Son Heung-min said that as all the players have prepared with great passion, he wants to "bloom" on the "stage of his dreams."

Reporting from Mexico, this is Lee Jung-chan.

[Reporter]

The expressions of the "Taeguk Warriors" during their final training session ahead of the match against the Czech Republic were resolute.

Head coach Hong Myung-bo gave final instructions to the players for over four minutes just before training, and the players, with their minds firmly set, prepared for the "fateful first match" with confident expressions.

[Hong Myung-bo/Head Coach of the National Football Team: I don't think our team has been negligent in preparing for this tournament. I believe an atmosphere where we can be excited, enjoy ourselves, and stay energetic has been created.]

While Coach Hong stated that his plans for the starting 11 against the Czech Republic are already finalized, captain Son Heung-min, who is set to make his fourth World Cup appearance, expressed his anticipation, saying he wants to show the results of the hard work put in during the more than three-week training camp.

[Son Heung-min/Captain of the National Football Team: I still think of it as the 'stage of my dreams.' Since the players have prepared so passionately and well, I really want to say that I hope we can 'bloom' based on that preparation.]

At the same time, he did not hide his caution, noting that the "tall" Czech squad is filled with high-level "big leaguers" such as Schick and Souček.

[Son Heung-min/Captain of the National Football Team: I think we need to show more than 100% of our ability to win. These are such important matches that we are essentially putting our lives on the line.]

Unlike our team, which has spent over three weeks adapting to the environment in Guadalajara, including the high altitude, the Czech Republic arrived at the battleground just one day before the match and vowed to unite as one to overcome us.

[Koubek/Head Coach of the Czech National Football Team: The conditions were not ideal, but we have prepared extensively for the high altitude. I do not have any negative thoughts that we are at a disadvantage.]

All preparations have been completed as planned.

Now is the time to fully display our skills and prove it with results.

(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.