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| The national soccer team played its first match against China at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 7th. Coach Hong Myung-bo is preparing for the game. Yongin = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.07/ |
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| The national soccer team played its first match against China at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 7th. Kim Moon-hwan of the national team is trying to break through vigorously. Yongin = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.07/ |
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The main competition is not just war.
The 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (hereinafter referred to as the East Asian Cup), which will be closed with a victory over China. Hong Myung-bo is also fighting outside the ground. Yongin Mir Stadium, where the match against China took place on the 7th, was literally 'Steamer'. At the time of kick-off at 8 p.m., as measured by the Korea Meteorological Administration, the temperature was 29 degrees and the wind chill was 31 degrees. Humidity reached 90 percent. Players from both teams each had cooling brakes in the first and second half, but they focused on drinking water throughout the game. At the end of the second half, both team players clearly showed a decrease in physical strength. Lee Dong-kyung, the main character of the winning goal on the day, said "It was hotter than I thought it would be".
The 2026 North Korea-China World Cup, which will be held a year later, is also 'War on Weather'. It was proved at the FIFA Club World Cup currently underway in the United States. The competition is being held in a heat wave of high humidity and lightning forecasts in the eastern region, and 40 degrees Celsius in the western region. Dortmund (Germany), which participated in the tournament, even sent its players to the locker room rather than the bench to watch the game due to the heat wave. After watching the Club World Cup, University of Portsmouth Professor Mike Tipton, an expert on the effects of extreme temperatures on the human body, said in an interview with the BBC in England, `It is better to move to an air-conditioned stadium and change the timing to a cooler season if possible, but since it has already been decided, the only way to do it is to move it to a cooler time zone.'
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| The national soccer team played its first match against China at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 7th. Kim Joo-sung of the national team, who scored the third goal of the second half of the team. Yongin = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.07/ |
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| The national soccer team played its first match against China at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 7th. The national soccer team won against China. Coach Hong Myung-bo shakes hands with the players after the game. Yongin = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.07/ |
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Which region Hong Myung-bo, who has advanced to the finals, will play will be decided through a draw ceremony in December. The best-case scenario is that group games will be assigned to Canada (Vanchester, Toronto), which is located north of the U.S., compared to the U.S. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Seattle in the northern part of the United States are expected to be better in terms of weather. However, it is safe to say that there is virtually no safe zone amid the heat wave due to global warming and abnormal climate.
Initially, the East Asian Cup was expected to be held during the rainy season. However, the competition began amid a persistent rainy season, which is less rainy than in previous years. Although it is not exactly the same as next year's North and Central America, at least it can be said that the situation assuming the variable of heat has been created. There are already variables. Winger Jeon Jin-woo (26, Jeonbuk Hyundai) was diagnosed with dizziness caused by the heat and fell just before the match against China. There is no law that a similar situation should not occur in next year's finals. We need to find team management and tactics to perform best in the heat.
On the way to the World Cup. It is a series of difficulties and variables. Victory and success follow only when you are in the best condition in unfamiliar environments and climates. It is also a lesson that Korean soccer has experienced through the past 11 World Cup finals. This is why the East Asian Cup, the 'first mock test of the World Cup', cannot be wasted.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
