"Struggling to Adapt to High Altitude, Now This..." Unexpected Variable in 3rd Match Against South Africa

[Anchor]

The third match against South Africa, which will determine our fate in the Round of 32 of the World Cup, is set to take place in Monterrey, Mexico, this coming Thursday, Korea Standard Time. The national team, which had been focusing on adapting to high altitude, is now facing a new challenge: sweltering heat.

Reporter Pyeon Gwang-hyun, who arrived in Monterrey a day ahead of the national team, reports on the heat at the scene.

[Reporter]

Monterrey, the third-largest city in Mexico, is located at an altitude of 500 meters—lower than Pyeongchang in Korea—unlike the high-altitude regions over 1,500 meters that the national team has been adapting to until now.

And the summer heat here is similar to that of Korea.

At Monterrey Stadium in the late afternoon, ahead of the match between Japan and Tunisia.

Volunteers seeking shelter in the shade are constantly fanning themselves in the scorching heat.

Unlike Guadalajara, where the evenings were cool, the temperature in Monterrey does not drop below 30°C (86°F) until 6 p.m.

Monterrey, which lacks air conditioning in its stadium, is considered effectively the hottest host city in this tournament. The heat index is forecast to reach as high as 38°C (100°F) on the day of our match.

[Thalia & Fernanda / Mexican Soccer Fans: I think the Korean players' performance might drop a bit because of the heat. (It's so hot, right?) It's really hot.]

[Regina / Mexican Soccer Fan: They will definitely need to make many substitutions because of the humidity and the heat.]

Because of this, our national team will enter Monterrey early tomorrow (June 22), one day earlier than FIFA's recommendation, to undergo "heat acclimatization" to adjust their bodies to the sweltering weather.

On the other hand, our opponent, South Africa, may face difficulties in adapting to Monterrey.

Since they have been training at their base camp in Pachuca, where the daytime temperature is only 22°C (72°F), and will only arrive in Monterrey two days before the match, they have less time to adapt to the heat than our team.

Our national team, which spent today recharging without training and pledging victory, will hold their final training session at the Guadalajara camp tomorrow morning before moving to Monterrey.

[Cho Gue-sung / National Soccer Team Forward: All the players are preparing well, and we will definitely repay the fans with a good performance and a victory in the match against South Africa.]

(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok | Video editing: Kim Jong-mi | Design: Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.