'Mental Coach' Confident in Success: "Just Do What You've Been Doing"

[Anchor]

Our national football team is joined by Professor Han Duck-hyun, a psychiatrist who serves as a mental coach to help players maintain peak psychological condition.

Reporter Lee Jeong-Chan delivers the national team's current psychological state as analyzed by Professor Han.

[Reporter]

Professor Han Duck-hyun, who joined the national team as a mental coach in July of last year, is an expert with experience supporting Olympic athletes from various sports and the national baseball team. He assessed the current "Hong Myung-bo squad" as follows:

[Han Duck-hyun / Mental Coach for the National Football Team: This team will definitely succeed. Over the past year, I have seen things being prepared step-by-step, both administratively and psychologically, so I dared to say even months before we started that 'this is a team that will make it.']

He praised the players for generally maintaining a good sense of composure.

[Han Duck-hyun / Mental Coach for the National Football Team: To express it in one word, it's 'stable.' They say they are preparing for the game and enjoying it, and they seem to be in exactly that state.]

He noted that even after the thrilling comeback victory against the Czech Republic, the players are preparing for the second match without getting overly excited or complacent. He also lauded the remarkable mental strength of our young players, including Lee Gye-hyeok.

[Han Duck-hyun / Mental Coach for the National Football Team: I sent an email to my mentor saying, 'Sports psychology (theory) has collapsed.' I expected them to feel pressure, act unexpectedly, and play with an unexpected mindset, but perhaps because they are the new generation, they don't have that.]

He stated that with this psychological state, the team will not be shaken even amidst the one-sided cheering of Mexican fans. He then revealed the team's special, yet simple, "mantra."

[Han Duck-hyun / Mental Coach for the National Football Team: Instead of saying things like 'give it your all until you die' or 'let your mentality burn,' we say... 'My assigned task is this, and once this task is done, I have done everything I need to do.' This is what we mean by 'just do what you've been doing.']

Reflecting on these words, "just do what you've been doing," our players are preparing for the match against Mexico.

(Video reporting: Hwang In-seok, Video editing: Choi Hye-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.