South Africa on the Brink: Preparing for South Korea Without Rest

[Anchor]

The South African national team is also in a desperate situation, needing a win in their final match against us to advance to the Round of 32. Despite facing various unfavorable conditions, they are burning with a fighting spirit to secure a victory.

Bae Jeonghun reports.

[Reporter]

South Africa is currently at a dead end, sitting at 4th place in the group with one draw and one loss, and now they face us.

It is a desperate situation where, effectively, only a win will allow them to pass the group stage for the first time in history.

Amidst this, they must also overcome several adverse conditions.

After finishing their second match against the Czech Republic in Atlanta, USA, yesterday (June 19), the South African team boarded a plane immediately and returned to their base camp in Mexico after a flight of over five hours.

South Africa has been exhausted by the massive travel distances throughout the group stage.

While our national team is playing all group stage matches in Mexico with a travel distance of only 637 km, South Africa faces a heavy physical burden, having to endure a travel distance approaching 4,000 km due to a match schedule that forces them to commute between Mexico and the United States.

On top of this, the head coach is facing deep concerns as two key players will be sidelined for the upcoming match due to a red card and accumulated yellow cards from the first and second matches.

Coach Broos expressed high caution regarding our team while vowing to do his best to find a solution.

[Broos/South Africa National Team Head Coach: (South Korea) is a very disciplined team. This is also a characteristic of East Asian teams. Since they have several key players with excellent skills, it will be a difficult match once again.]

Reflecting the urgent situation of the team, South Africa held recovery training today and plans to gather at the training ground without rest tomorrow to boost their condition, unlike our national team, which will take a day off tomorrow.

With our team unable to let their guard down for a moment to reach the Round of 32, and South Africa needing a win to write a new history, the third match between the two teams will truly be a battle of destiny.

(Video Editing: Nam Il, Design: Kim Yeji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.