[Anchor]

The South African national team, which has been minimizing information exposure by maintaining a low profile, has arrived in Monterrey. They are focusing on finding a winning strategy by analyzing South Korea's historical struggles against African teams in the World Cup.

Pyeon Gwanghyeon reports from the scene.

[Reporter]

South Africa, which trained at its base camp in Pachuca until this morning (June 23), arrived in Monterrey today, contrary to their initial announcement that they would travel one day before the match.

They have minimized information disclosure even to their own media, leading to complaints.

[Mnyandu/President of the South African Football Journalists Association (Source: SABC News): I don't know why we are unable to cover them. It's a different situation compared to other participating countries.]

Unlike other nations, they did not readily disclose their accommodation location, announcing it only on the day of their move.

As South Africa has maintained such a secretive approach throughout the tournament, the welcoming crowd was relatively small.

[Papawawa/South African Football Fan: We are going to win the match against South Korea. We will confidently advance to the Round of 32.]

Since South Africa could potentially reach second place if they defeat us, they are determined to create an upset while keeping their team's strength under wraps.

[Dube/South African Journalist: It seems like they are trying to create a turnaround in the match against South Korea. Hiding information can be helpful for the team.]

In particular, South Africa is fueling its hopes by recalling South Korea's so-called "African jinx."

We have faced African teams four times in World Cup history, conceding the first goal in every match, resulting in a record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 losses. We have not won against an African side for 20 years since the match against Togo in 2006.

Specifically, against Algeria in 2014 and Ghana in the last tournament, we suffered bitter defeats as we were outmatched in strength and technique, contrary to expectations that they would be our "guaranteed win."

South Korean football, which has been tripped up by African teams at critical junctures, now stands on a test bed to break that jinx.

Reported by Pyeon Gwanghyeon | Video by Hwang In-seok | Video Editing by Hwang Ji-young | Graphics by Park Tae-young and Kim Han-gil