Director Hong Myung-bo's 'Shock Draw'..."Sorry for not winning, good Palestinian team"
Director Hong Myung-bo's 'Shock Draw'..."Sorry for not winning, good Palestinian team"
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Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the national soccer team, apologized to fans for the shock draw against Palestine.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, drew 1-1 in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Palestine, ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings, at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on the 19th (Korea time).
Kim Min-jae's back pass miss led to the first run in the 12th minute of the first half, but Son Heung-min's equalizer broke out four minutes later. He threatened the Palestinian goal throughout the game, but failed to take advantage of the decisive chance.
The national team, which only gained one point, maintained its lead by six points ahead of second-place Jordan and third-place Iraq, with four wins, two draws and 14 points. However, following their face-off in September, they ended up with two consecutive draws with Palestine, leaving a regret.
Iraq won the next match, trailing the national team by three points. Jordan fell to third place with a 1-1 draw with Kuwait, but narrowed the gap with the national team to five points.
The Palestinians had three draws and three losses and three points. The team tied with Jordan at the bottom of the table, failing to exceed Kuwait (four points). Korea dedicated two of the three points that the Palestinians gained.
Coach Hong Myung-bo faced off against Palestine as the best member without rotation. He displayed the same lineup as he did against Kuwait.
Cho Hyun-woo kept the goal unchanged. Lee Myung-jae and Seol Young-woo on the left and right sides, and Kim Min-jae and Cho Yoo-min at center back will work together just like they did against Kuwait.
In the midfield, a combination of Park Yong-woo, Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung was operated. The left side attack was led by Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in was located on the other side. Oh Se-hoon was in charge of the front line.
The national team was hit early in the game. In the 12th minute of the first half, Palestinian striker Zayed Kunbar predicted and intercepted Kim Min-jae's back pass. Cho Hyun-woo ran out, but Kunbar, who defended the ball well, lightly threw it into the empty goal. Kunbar ran to the corner frag, pulled out the flag, performed a shooting ceremony and energized his citizens at war.먹튀검증
Four minutes later, Son Heung-min scored an equalizer and succeeded in balancing. Son Heung-min was the main character.
In the 16th minute of the first half, he received Lee Jae-seong's superb penetration pass and slotted it into the far post with his right foot inside the net. Son, who had scored his 50th A-match in the match against Kuwait, scored his 51st A-match, overtaking Hwang to rank second in all-time goal rankings. He also increased his A-match record to 10 goals in a single year.
But there was no goal after that. He kept knocking on the Palestinian goal, but failed to earn any money. He ended up in a draw with the Palestinians twice, following September.
In a press conference after the match, Hong said, "I am not good enough for a draw. I think I did my best until the end. Players looked tired at the end of the second half in the away game, but I think I did my best until the end. It was the last A-match of this year, but I am sorry to the fans that I did not win."
"Of course, I think there are a lot of areas that need to be improved when looking at today's game except for the last five games. If I go back, I think I need to analyze the six games and show better performance in the game that starts next year," he said.
As for what needs to be improved, he pointed out, "What went well out of the six games improved systematically with the efforts of the players even in a short time. The fact that various scoring routes were created was the part that developed in a short time. On the contrary, even though there were many routes, I think the decision-making power should be developed when an opponent with strong organizational power comes down."
"I personally thought we were a good team while preparing for this match. I really liked how our players continued to struggle throughout the match," Hong said. "It is true that our players showed a lot of determination compared to that, but overall, I got the impression that our team is a good team. I have no special advice."