결전의 날, 홍명보호가 마주한 '부상 악재'와 '승리에 대한 열망' > K-wave Trends

An unexpected emergency light came on in Hong Myung-bo's defense. Kim Tae-hyun, who was selected as a key center back, suffered an ankle injury during the final training, making it virtually uncertain that he will participate in the group stage. This absence, which occurred following Jo Yu-min's fall from the horse, caused great concern to Coach Hong, who made the three-back strategy the key. However, instead of selecting additional replacements, the national team chose to attack head-on by utilizing existing resources, Lee Ki-hyuk and Jo Wi-je. In particular, Lee Ki-hyuk, who showed better build-up ability than expected in the evaluation match after his surprise selection, is highly likely to take charge of the defensive line along with Kim Min-jae and Lee Han-beom in the match against the Czech Republic.

The injury woes weren't limited to the defense. Attacker Bae Jun-ho, who injured his ankle in a rough tackle from an opponent during an evaluation match against Trinidad and Tobago, is also unable to complete normal training and is focusing on rehabilitation. Fortunately, the recovery is positive, so it is expected that he will be able to play from the second game of the group stage, but there is a limit to the number of players available for the match against the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, coach Hong Myung-bo and the players are showing unwavering performance. Coach Hong, who has already completed planning the best 11, expressed strong confidence, saying that the dedication and effort the players have accumulated so far will be fully displayed on the pitch.

The thing that the Korean national team put the most effort into ahead of this match against the Czech Republic was definitely adapting to the high altitude. The long-term training camp in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, to overcome the environment of Guadalajara, which is 1,570 meters above sea level, is considered a godsend. On the other hand, in contrast to the Czech national team, which arrived only before the game, our national team is already being evaluated as having perfectly adapted to the high-altitude environment. These strategic preparations also led to a positive outlook in the analysis of Opta, a soccer statistics company. Opta analyzed that Korea's probability of victory is 42.9%, which puts it ahead of the Czech Republic (31.1%).

The cheers and excitement outside the stadium are also strong. Advertisements worth 6 billion won for the Czech Republic game have already been sold out, and virtual advertisements are also sold out early, taking full advantage of the World Cup special. What's interesting is that this game is attracting so much attention from the local community that even the local zoo is holding a win/loss prediction event. The atmosphere of the competition reached its peak as light fun elements were added, such as Puma's 'Muluk' predicting Korea's victory. As the players also lived up to these expectations, Son Heung-min showed a serious attitude toward the first game with a solemn determination to “risk my life in every game.”