'Midfield Commander' Hwang In-beom: "If They Focus on Me, More Opportunities Will Open Up"

[Anchor]

Mexico has identified Hwang In-beom as the commander of the midfield and the player they need to watch most closely. Hwang expressed confidence in his team, saying he hopes Mexico pays plenty of attention to him, as that will create more opportunities for the other talented players on the national team.

Reporter Yoo Byung-min has the story.

[Reporter]

After leading the team to its first World Cup opening match victory in 16 years with a stellar performance of one goal and one assist against the Czech Republic, Hwang In-beom attended the official press conference as the player representative, expressing strong confidence that the team has finished analyzing Mexico.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: "They are a team with completely different characteristics (from the Czech Republic), and I think (Mexico) has a very fast transition speed. We have been focusing our preparations on those aspects."]

When told that the Mexican media has identified him as the number one player to watch, he predicted that it would actually work in the team's favor.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: "I hope they pay a lot of attention to me. Since we have many other great players on our team, I think that will create more opportunities for them."]

Regarding Santiago Gimenez, his former Feyenoord teammate who scored a wonder goal against the national team in a friendly match, Hwang expressed caution while also showing confidence in his team's defense.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: "I know he is such a good player, and I can briefly share with (our defenders) what points they need to be careful about."]

He expressed certainty in the ironclad defense led by his close friend Kim Min-jae.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: "Min-jae leads the center well, and the players next to him also help with the defense, so I can say that I trust all of our players."]

Hwang promised to gift the public another happy day, just as they did in the first match against the Czech Republic.

[Hwang In-beom/National Football Team Midfielder: "I think I felt that we had done something truly valuable. I think the World Cup is a stage that gives us the motivation to head into the next match, realizing that 'we were able to help so many people start their day with happiness.'"]

(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok, Video editing: Park Jung-sam, Design: Kim Min-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.