[Issue Plus] Hong Myung Bo Ho, tonight against Jordan...Should we avenge the Asian Cup?

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Park Chan-ha, soccer commentator

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News PLUS] when quoting.

[Anchor]
I will look forward to the game with soccer commentator Park Chan-ha to see if the national team can shake off the burden of away games and Son Heung-min's absence. Please come in. Jordan, which shocked the defeat at the last Asian Cup, is drawing keen attention to this game. What do you think?

[Park Chan-ha]
The prevailing expectation is that it will not be an easy away game. While the national team's power itself has been sideways since the World Cup, Jordan has been strong enough to finish second in the last Asian Cup. In particular, we met twice at the last Asian Cup, but we couldn't win both times and recorded one draw and one loss. And when we met in the semi-finals, Jordan's appearance was so good against us that it made us do nothing. It's a team with that much confidence, and the FIFA ranking is 23rd and Jordan 68th, so there's a big difference.In soccer, the fafa ranking does not represent absolute skill or absolute ranking. We have to forget about FIFA ranking for a while, and it's important how the two teams have looked recently.

[Anchor]
In the case of baseball games, records are very important and they analyze them a lot with data, but soccer should be known as you said. I don't know what will happen until the final ending whistle is called, Jordan, what strategy do you think will come out this time?

[Park Chan-ha]
First of all, Jordan has been undefeated in eight consecutive A matches. If you look at the contents, they have difficulties in the games they have to lead. But Jordan showed the tendency to play well when he kept what he could do best and then used a sharp, quick counterattack. Perhaps in the game against us, there is a high possibility that we will prepare for a stable-oriented counterattack while making our defense strong. However, it is unclear whether Jordan, who is currently a key player in the national team, will play. All of them are strikers.

There's Al Naimat, the front-line striker, and Al Tamari, the opposite-footed wing forward who uses his left foot a lot on the right side. There is a 99.9% chance that Altamari will not be able to play in today's game. Al Naimat was originally injured during an A-match last month. He was injured while playing in the national team, and at that time, the injury was diagnosed for six to eight weeks. However, he joined the national team now and trained normally, so there is a high probability that Al-Aima will come out today. However, if the two players are not in normal condition or only one comes out, there is a possibility that the goal-making ability will be different from the one that made us difficult in the Asian Cup.

[Anchor]
There is a high possibility that the two players will not be in good condition. Isn't our captain Son Heung-min also absent due to injury? What should I do with the blank?

[Park Chan-ha]
First of all, I think it will be important who will replace Son Heung-min's gap with. When our national team does not have Son Heung-min, what's interesting is that the national team's winning rate is good. Except for games where Son Heung-min was not available at all, such as the East Asian Cup, we are probably recording about 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses when Son Heung-min is not available. To that extent, in the absence of Son Heung-min, the national team has united as one and produced good games and good results in its own way. So I think it would be good to look forward to that part of the national team today. There may be a number of ideas.

Coach Hong Myung-bo has to choose which proposal to take out, but the national team is not convened often and cannot play often. Therefore, in that it is important to minimize confusion, I think that Hwang Hee-chan will be put on the left side and Lee Jae-sung will be placed in the attacking midfielder position, rather than putting in a new combination among the players.What coach Hong Myung-bo will choose will be outlined by 10 p.m. tonight.

[Anchor]
Recently, however, Hwang Hee-chan has hardly been able to start in his team. I was sitting on the bench and was replaced in the second half, will my condition be okay?

[Park Chan-ha]
Hwang Hee-chan is having a difficult early season this season. The playing time is also short. As you said, we didn't get many chances to be selected.Ma is a player who needs Hwang Hee-chan in our national team, and Hwang Hee-chan is playing in the Premier League. That's why you know better than anyone else what to do in the national team.

Also, as he scored a great goal in the away game in Oman, the national team has always shown a lot of results recently, so I'd like to choose Hwang Hee-chan if he asked me to replace Son Heung-min with someone right away.

[Anchor]
I just put Kim Min-jae as a temporary captain. There will be two consecutive games today, the 15th, the 3rd, and the 4th. What do you think is the reason for putting Kim Min-jae as the captain?

[Park Chan-ha]
First of all, Kim Min-jae has played in the captain's armband when Son Heung-min was not present. There must have been some options on the bench as well. Like this new choice, there was a way to fill Kim Min-jae's captain's armband, and since Lee Jae-sung is appointed as a father-in-law, it is also a way to entrust the role to Lee Jae-sung, who should play a key role in both games? I think I made that judgment first. In addition, I think Kim Min-jae would have made a desirable judgment that if he played with the weight of the captain, he could give our national team a little more.

[Anchor]
With Son Heung-min out of the offense today, you paid attention to Hwang Hee-chan, so which other player should we pay attention to?

[Park Chan-ha]
If you say who is the most important player in the national team right now and who is the current ace of our national team, you can talk about the two players. One is Son Heung-min and the other is Lee Kang-in. Son Heung-min failed to join the national team due to his injury. Now, Lee Kang-in needs to play more. In addition, Lee Kang-in is in very good condition for his team Paris Saint-Germain this season, beyond protecting the ball and delivering the ball to his teammates in a difficult situation overall.

And as Lee Kang-in has played many positions, he is playing well and producing results well, so I think our national team will get a good result only if Lee Kang-in plays the role of troubleshooter himself in these two away games and home games against Iraq.

[Anchor]
In the World Cup qualifying round, Korea's offense has its own individual skills and some parts that didn't fit in the beginning, but it's doing it. However, some point out that losing points is a little unstable in defense. Is there any solution in defense?

[Park Chan-ha]
First of all, our national team left the last Qatar World Cup behind and the team's performance from 2023 was horizontal and ups and downs. The game goes well on good days, but on bad days, the deviation is large and the national team has recently lost its prowess in the Qatar World Cup. It is urgent to rebuild the entire organization. And we need clear guidelines on what kind of soccer our national team wants to play.

We can expect good results in the World Cup only when we step through the World Cup qualifiers and earn a World Cup berth in that state. We need to find a way to get the whole organization quickly in the national team. And defense is not just a matter of defense. Strikers should also join the defense, and only when all these things continue to be good in a series can our national team be solid and complete as a team.

[Anchor]
A big win over Jordan today will not only avenge your crushing defeat, but you will also rise to No. 1 in your group, right?

[Park Chan-ha]
That's right. We, Jordan, Iraq. In this way, he has one win and one draw in the first two games. There is a high probability that the direction of the last World Cup qualification will go up in smoke as Group B itself is in a neck-and-neck race. That's why I expect that this away match against Jordan and home against Iraq will have a very significant impact on deciding the lead in Group B.

That's why if we win these two games, we can continue to play favorable World Cup qualifiers while securing a stable top spot. If the second place in the group is given a World Cup berth and is pushed to third or fourth place, it will be difficult to go to the fourth qualifying round. In order to avoid that situation, we must play the two games well, Jordan and Iraq, which can be considered strong teams in Group B. In addition, Asian soccer has not been intimidated against our team recently.

That's the difficulty for us to play again, because we're continuing to advance to the World Cup and we're a strong team that made it to the round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup. The two consecutive games have a number of important meanings in that they can continue the favorable situation only by playing a game that puts such psychological pressure on the opponent.

[Anchor]
You explained the atmosphere in which Asian teams are not afraid of Korea these days, but Jordanian media asked Hong and vice-captain some provocative questions at the official pre-press conference yesterday. South Korea has struggled against Jordan and has not won since 2008, making such unconfirmed and incorrect claims, but Hong and Vice President Lee Jae-sung gave a very wise and correct answer. What did you think?

[Park Chan-ha]
I said something desirable. That kind of provocation will continue. No matter how you go on an away trip, it's not a question that respects us or fears us, but it's easy to look at us and think that if you play well, you can catch us enough, and that's probably how the local media approaches it. As I just told you, those are all things that come from not being afraid of the other person. To that end, it is important to play away to Jordan, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the 3rd and 4th games to the home game against Iraq really took our luck to advance to the World Cup.

[Anchor]
I must win today, but if I lose one, what will happen to coach Hong's future?

[Park Chan-ha]
It's obvious that things will go badly. And first of all, the results of today's game have not come out, and we have to watch the home game against Iraq, so it is not appropriate to talk about coach Hong Myung-bo based on the results of the 3rd and 4th games. However, you'll probably come under more pressure from public opinion. If that happens, it would be safe to say that Hong Myung-bo's cause to continue leading the national team does not disappear, but just disappears, so it will be very important for Hong Myung-bo from the away game in Jordan to the next game.

[Anchor]
explained just a moment ago that it was a matter of the coach's quality to win two consecutive World Cups, former national team player Lee Chun-soo, and he affirmed that Hong would be replaced if he lost in both the third and fourth games. How do you rate this?

[Park Chan-ha]
It's a losing family. Then, in the first four games, one win, one draw, and two losses. As the winning rate itself drops significantly in the context of turning the halfway point, it is not too much to continue to emphasize the importance of the 3rd and 4th games as I have emphasized. That's why I think they're saying that assuming they lose both games. Again, if that happens, if the losing streak happens, public opinion probably won't remain silent.

[Anchor]
What I'm curious about is how much trust among the national soccer team players in Coach Hong Myung-bo?

[Park Chan-ha]
First of all, I don't really know what the players are thinking internally. And there's no way that players don't know what's happening in recent months, starting with the appointment of head coach Hong Myung-bo. However, I can tell you one thing here, and I'm glad that the news that the players are well-established internally has been delivered. I think the players are focused solely on the game and what kind of game will they play to get good results, so I think that's a hopeful part for our national team.

[Anchor]
It would be nice to show your skills on the field, but it's still noisy outside. FIFA sent a warning letter to the Korea Football Association, what was it about?

[Park Chan-ha]
To briefly explain the contents, there will be many articles of association with FIFA. Like the articles of association of the Korea Football Association, FIFA has articles of association, and Article 14a association operates independently without external interference and the association's decision should not be influenced by undue influence or pressure from outside. And Article 19 must maintain sports administration independently without interference from political, legal or external organizations. I received an e-mail with this main point.

So the Korea Football Association confidently distributed this to the media, but if you look closely at the contents, you can easily think of it like this. When we send a claim e-mail to the shopping mall, we receive a detailed answer to the issue and an automatic response e-mail before any action is taken. We received your information and analyzed it in detail and received e-mails saying how we will take action later. I think it's actually the same as that.

This is because the content is nothing special, and our articles of association are like this. So FIFA sent me an e-mail asking me to let you know more about the situation in your country later. That's why I think FIFA has taken some first steps to impose sanctions on this, and interpreting it like this has gone out a lot.

And even if you look at the articles of association, it says that it is an undue influence from the outside. Of course, it's a situation that needs to be interpreted as to what it's unfair.There are definitely some things that are not unjustified in part among the things that are in question right now. Therefore, I think FIFA's e-mails are threatening Korea so far, so there is no need to look at them like this.

[Anchor]
Tonight, we have an away game against Jordan, and next Tuesday, the 15th, we have a match against Iraq in our country. Will you be able to adjust and recover your condition in that short time?

[Park Chan-ha]
It's going to be the hardest for the players. First of all, the players in Europe who joined Jordan may be in a little better condition than coming to Korea right away and playing the first game and then going back to the Middle East and playing the second game. But I'm not in normal condition either, but flying directly to the Middle East rather than playing the first game in Korea has a shorter flight time in Europe and less time difference, so there's also a positive effect from that.There are also players who flew from Korea.

That's why you're in this condition. This is because it is difficult for us to play in Asia no matter where we play in our national team's performance. But since the first game is played in the Middle East, the conditions are good. Since it occupies a big axis in the power of the national team playing in Europe, I can tell you that it is better than the first game in Korea. However, the players are in the second round. This is the opposite of September. I have to come back to Korea after the first round in the Middle East, and in the meantime, Korea has gotten a lot colder. Since there is also a problem with the weather, I hope the players will not get sick and maintain good condition as much as possible.

[Anchor]
I see. Today, Issue Plus, we were with soccer commentator Park Chan-ha. Thank you.