Focusing on Set-Piece Tactics in Closed Training: "We Are Not Playing for a Draw"

[Anchor]

The South Korean national football team has been refining its set-piece tactics during a closed training session ahead of the third match against South Africa. While a draw would be enough to secure second place in the group, our players are determined to win and advance to the Round of 32.

Lee Jeong-Chan reports from Monterrey.

[Reporter]

With access strictly controlled, the national team bus arrives at the training ground.

The venue where our players are conducting their final preparations over these two days is the home stadium of the prestigious Mexican club Tigres. The grass conditions are similar to the Monterrey stadium,

[It is hot and humid.]

[It is the perfect weather to win.]

The travel time from the hotel is also nearly identical.

Since the national team usually focuses on conditioning the day before a match, the closed tactical training taking place here is essentially where the success or failure of the South Africa match will be decided.

Under tight security, the team has been putting significant effort into sharpening its set-piece tactics.

As the key South African defenders are relatively short, the plan is to actively leverage an aerial advantage, centering on Cho Gue-sung and Lee Han-beom, who play together for FC Midtjylland in Denmark.

Cho Gue-sung has fond memories of scoring a brace with headers against Ghana at the Qatar tournament four years ago, and although he did not score in the recent match against Mexico, his sharp headers kept the opponent on edge.

The 189cm-tall defender Lee Han-beom led Midtjylland to victory in the Danish Cup this season, recording attacking points with his head in three consecutive matches.

[Lee Han-beom/National Football Team Defender: I heard they are short, so we are preparing well for set-piece and cross situations. I have also talked a lot with Gue-sung about how to handle things since before we came to the World Cup.]

While a draw is enough to secure second place in the group, a loss could potentially drop us to fourth place and lead to elimination. Therefore, the team is determined not to be complacent, aiming for a victory to head to Los Angeles for the Round of 32 in high spirits.

[Lee Han-beom/National Football Team Defender: I am not thinking about a draw at all. We are preparing with the mindset that we must win, so I want to say that we are absolutely not taking this lightly.]

(Video by Hwang In-seok | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek | Graphics by Seo Seung-hyun and Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.