Coach Hong Myung-bo, who promised to win and finish well in 2025, is at a better level than any other year.
Nov 17, 2025
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Coach Hong attended a press conference before the A-match friendly between South Korea (22nd in FIFA rankings) and Ghana (73rd) held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 17th. The main match against Ghana is scheduled for 8 p.m. on the 18th at the same stadium. Coach Hong said, `Tomorrow is the last warm-up match of the year. There are several things that were targeted for this November's camp. I hope our goal will be achieved perfectly. The most important thing is victory. I want to make sure that the players of Gyeonggi-do Province play a good game in front of the fans tomorrow and win and finish the season well. I'll prepare well for today."
It was November, when the results were important. Coach Hong, who emphasized the importance of the results during the call-up in November, won 2-0 against his first opponent, Bolivia. The result led to another. Norway, ranked 29th in the FIFA rankings, beat Italy in the European qualifiers for the 2026 North-China World Cup, which led Italy to head to the playoffs seeking to participate in the Port 4. The Port 2 Maginot Line went down to 24th place. Australia, ranked 25th, lost 0-1 to Venezuela, leaving no room to overturn the gap with South Korea. Thanks to the win over Bolivia, we are closer to advancing to Port 2.
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As a victory, we expect 'Jimmy' Considering 2026, which will extend its feet further toward the World Cup, the 2025 finish is important. The team, which took a break after the match against Bolivia, was re-collected in Goyang on the 16th and sweated again for the match against Ghana. Hong said, "Our players' dedication to the team this year and their attitude to always show good performances were better than any other team."The most important part as a coach is to keep these situations steady, not let your guard down, and to keep your good form until next year."
Except for Kim Seung-gyu (Doco FC) and Lee Myung-jae (Daejeon Hana), who were treated for injuries, the rest of the team performed the recovery process and planned training. Experiments are also conducted in parallel. Check the stable defensive line composition in situations between three-back and four-back. The midfield combination can also be used as a new player composition. Since the offense also predicted Oh Hyun-kyu's selection, a different performance than the match against Bolivia is expected. Hong said, `We have decided on the formation to play in the game. I want to see a situation where I can feel something and cooperate while playing roles there such as diversity, three-back, and four-back in what I've been doing so far."
The following is a Q&A session with director Hong Myung-bo.
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▶Tomorrow is the last warm-up match of the year. There are several things that were targeted for this November's camp. I hope our goal will be achieved perfectly. The most important thing is victory. I want to make sure that the players of Gyeonggi-do Province play a good game in front of the fans tomorrow and win and finish the season well. I will prepare well for today.
-How are Kim Seung-gyu and Lee Myung-jae's injuries and other players' physical conditions.
▶The two players are not seriously injured. However, it will be difficult to play in tomorrow's game. The other players are in good shape overall.
-I'm curious about the evaluation of this year.
▶There were times when I had a good game or a bad game. I'm the coach of this team, and I say the result is important. However, our players' dedication to the team this year and their attitude to always show good performance remained better than any other team. There were several warm-up matches after we advanced to the World Cup. He will head to the finals through the World Cup in June next year and three to four warm-up matches before that. Personally, it is the most important part of leading the team as a coach that the players keep these situations steady, stay alert, and maintain good form until next year.
-How are you going to use the formation.
▶The formation for the game has been decided. I would like to see a situation where I can feel something and cooperate while playing roles there, such as diversity, three-back, and four-back, in what I have been doing so far.
-What is the current level of completion of the team.
▶I don't think any team is 100% perfect for either team. It is important to know how much ability you have and what percentage it is. As a result, you cannot achieve results if you do not demonstrate such abilities. We can't say we're up to a certain percentage. However, there have been several conditions for me to succeed while leading the team. Of course, you have to win the game, you have to have good tactics, and you have to have good content. There are a lot of things, but for those things, you need basic things for the team. It seems that the players are aware of this part. The time for tactics and strategies to take place is soon. The problem is that such a trust relationship takes a long time. Considering what the players have shown since last year, there are not many games next year, but I think it is positive to prepare for the World Cup with good players.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
