Team Korea Begins Tailored Training for Mexico Match: What Is the Winning Strategy?

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Our national football team will face Mexico this Friday in a match that will effectively decide the top spot in the group. Starting today, June 16, the team is entering training specifically tailored for Mexico.

Reporter Lee Jeong-Chan has the story.

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After refreshing their spirits with time off and rest,

[Hwang In-beom/National Team Midfielder: We rested well.]

The players gathered at the training ground with much brighter expressions, despite the drizzling rain.

[Lee Jae-sung/National Team Midfielder: For our second victory!]

After warming up with strength training indoors, they headed to the pitch and poured out sweat.

Head coach Hong Myung-bo carefully monitored the players' physical conditions, paying particular attention to those who had limited playing time in the match against the Czech Republic.

The area where Coach Hong is seeking change is the front line.

To exploit the vacancy left by the opponent's key defender, he is considering a "Son Heung-min shift." This involves starting Oh Hyeon-gyu—the "joker" who overcame a high fever to score a comeback goal—and moving Son Heung-min from striker to the flank to maximize attacking power.

[Hong Myung-bo/National Team Head Coach: Son Heung-min has a great sense for scoring... I thought the captain's role is essential to provide stability to the players around him.]

In particular, Son Heung-min and Oh Hyeon-gyu are expected to be "winning cards," as both scored in a friendly match against Mexico last year.

[Oh Hyeon-gyu/National Team Forward: Since it is Mexico's home ground, we will prepare well to analyze the opponent and give 100% or more of what we can do.]

Lee Dong-gyeong, who scored two "wonder goals" against Mexico during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is also waiting for the order to take the field.

The national team, which showed confidence by opening a longer training session than usual, begins full-scale, tailored training for the Mexico match starting today.

(Reported by Hwang In-seok | Video by Park Jeong-sam | Graphics by Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.