"Since things did not turn out as well as we prepared, I think it is completely fine to say that the role of the manager who directed the preparation was at fault."

Hong Myung-bo, manager of the South Korean national football team, which recorded a disappointing third-place finish in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup in North America, took full responsibility.

Even a day after the match, he could not clearly explain why his team suffered a helpless defeat against South Africa without putting up much of a fight.

After securing a 2-1 comeback victory against the Czech Republic in their first match and suffering a narrow 0-1 loss to host nation Mexico in the second, Hong's squad was caught off guard with a 0-1 defeat in their final group match against South Africa—considered the weakest team in the group—leaving them in a position where advancing to the round of 32 is not guaranteed.

On June 26 (KST), the day after the match against South Africa, the national team moved from Monterrey to Guadalajara and held a recovery training session at around 4 p.m. local time.

Prior to that, Coach Hong met with reporters on-site for a press conference to wrap up the group stage.

Although Hong's press conference was announced only two hours before the start of training, a national team official explained, "It was a wrap-up interview that had originally been planned."

Coach Hong looked back on the preparation process starting right after the group draw.

"After the group draw was held on December 3 last year, we knew we had to play in two difficult cities with high altitude and high temperature and humidity," he explained. "When thinking about where to focus, we decided it was right to focus on the high altitude where the first and second matches would be held, so we concentrated on preparing for the high altitude."

Hong's squad recorded one win and one loss in the first two matches played in Guadalajara, which is at a high altitude.

In the match against Mexico, despite managing the game well, they conceded a goal resulting from mistakes by the defense, including goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu (FC Tokyo).

He said, "Looking back now, the result of the second match is highly regrettable. If we had secured points there, we wouldn't have had to go to such lengths in the third match, but because we couldn't, we ended up with the worst-case scenario."

Hong's squad played a truly poor game against South Africa.

After the first 10 minutes of the first half, they barely created any threatening moments.

They were left helpless against South Africa's fast counterattacks.

The players showed a completely different performance compared to the first and second matches.

Their bodies looked heavy, and their teamwork was out of sync.

Regarding the reason for such a performance, Coach Hong mentioned the "environmental factor" of Monterrey's sweltering heat.

Coach Hong said, "As I looked for other reasons, not many came up. I think the environmental aspect might have caused us difficulties."

This suggests that the players, who had played two matches in the relatively mild climate of Guadalajara, seemed to have had some difficulty adapting after moving to the hot city of Monterrey.

However, he also frankly admitted that they could not find a clear cause after analyzing the match data.

Coach Hong said, "Looking at the data, the running distance was slightly less than in the Mexico match, but high-intensity running was slightly more. Physically, there wasn't a big difference (compared to the Mexico match), but it is not easy to find the reason why the players looked so slow on the pitch."

He also mentioned psychological factors.

"The players' psychological state seemed to be that they wanted to do too well, and they had a very strong desire to win and secure our spot. Because of that, combined with the mental and psychological aspects and playing in suddenly hot weather, things didn't seem to click," he explained.

Ultimately, no clear answer as to "why they lost" came out of the press conference on this day.

Coach Hong said, "We prepare for dozens of situations before a match, but sometimes unexpected situations arise. While it is up to the players to cope with them, everything is the manager's responsibility."

He added, "If we play the round of 32, we have about three or four days left. I will prepare the team well somehow."

South Africa manager Hugo Broos assessed in his press conference the day before that tactically neutralizing South Korea's strengths was the key to victory.

When asked by reporters about the possibility of tactical changes in light of this, Coach Hong said, "We could adjust our approach depending on the opponent, but I believe suddenly changing what we have been doing all along would not be good for the squad. Once our opponent is decided, I will consider those aspects comprehensively."

He continued to shield Son Heung-min (LAFC), who failed to score throughout the group stage.

He emphasized that even if Son did not score, he was creating space for other attackers.

Coach Hong said, "I believe Son Heung-min always plays his role. However, whether that evaluation is based on goals or not is where both the player and the team face difficulties."

(Photo: Yonhap News)