Guadalupe [Mexico], June 25 (ANI): Former South Korea legend Park Ji-Sung criticised the team after their loss in the FIFA World Cup clash against South Africa, saying that there has been “no visible plan to attack” and drew comparisons with their 2014 campaign, which saw them bow out without a win.
South Korea suffered their second loss of the tournament against South Africa, following which they are not in contention for a direct qualification to the round of 32. The eight best-ranked third-placed teams will get a berth in the round of 32, and this remains South Korea’s only hope till the group stage is concluded. While with a win, they are in contention for a spot in the round of 32, nothing can be guaranteed, as the tables could change by the time the team group stage ends.
Korea started with their skipper Son Heung-min on the bench, and when he came to the field, he could record only 29 touches in his side’s 1-0 loss. Park does not have much hope, saying on TV commentary as quoted by Reuters, “We need to reflect on whether this was overall a game we tried to win.”
“There was no visible plan for how to attack. This problem has been the same throughout this World Cup. It seems there were clearly some areas that were neglected during the preparation process,” he said.
Despite starting with a win over Czechia, narrow losses against Mexico and South Africa have caused their WC campaign to run into trouble. These poor performances have reminded the 2002 semifinalist Park of the disastrous 2014 campaign, where they managed a draw and two losses.
“We had plenty of time to reflect on what went wrong at the 2014 World Cup,” said Park.
“But this time again, the preparation process and the results look like a repeat of that time. Even if the possibility of reaching the round of 32 still remains, I am not confident that we can show a good performance on that stage with the current level of play,” he signed off. (ANI)
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