'Mental Coach' Confident in Success: "Just Do What You've Been Doing"

[Anchor]

The national team has a special coach with them for this World Cup. Han Deok-hyun, a professor of psychiatry, has joined the team as a mental coach to look after the players' psychological well-being. A veteran with 25 years of experience, he is confident in our national team's success.

Lee Jeong-Chan reports from the scene.

[Reporter]

Professor Han Deok-hyun, who joined the national team as a mental coach in July of last year, is an expert with experience supporting Olympic athletes from various sports as well as the national baseball team. He assessed the current "Hong Myung-bo squad" as follows:

[Han Deok-hyun/National Football Team Mental Coach: This team will definitely succeed. I have seen the preparations being made step by step over the past year, both administratively and psychologically, which is why I dared to say months before we even started that 'this is a team that will make it.']

He praised the players for maintaining their composure overall.

[Han Deok-hyun/National Football Team Mental Coach: To put it in one word, it's 'stable.' They say they are preparing for the game and enjoying it, and they seem to be in exactly that state.]

He noted that even after the thrilling comeback win against the Czech Republic, the players are preparing for the second match without getting overexcited or complacent. He also praised the remarkable mental strength of our young players, including Lee Gi-hyuk.

[Han Deok-hyun/National Football Team Mental Coach: I sent an email to my mentor saying, 'Sports psychology (theory) has collapsed.' I expected them to feel burdened and act or think in ways they wouldn't normally, but perhaps because they are a new generation, they don't have that.]

He stated that with this mindset, the team will not be shaken even amidst the one-sided support from Mexican fans, and he revealed the team's "mantra"—which is both special and ordinary.

[Han Deok-hyun/National Football Team Mental Coach: Instead of saying things like 'give it your all' or 'let your spirit burn'... I tell them, 'My assigned task is this, and once this task is done, I have done everything I could.' This is what I mean by 'doing what we've been doing.' Let's just do what we've been doing.]

Reflecting on these words, "do what we've been doing," our players are preparing for the match against Mexico.

(Video reporting: Hwang In-seok, Video editing: Choi Hye-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.