South Korean star Son Heung-min has warned that his team should not make the mistake of showing too much respect to bigger and more established teams at next year’s World Cup.
South Korea won 2-0 at home against Paraguay on Tuesday (October 14), after losing 5-0 at home to powerful Brazil in an international friendly last week.
Son thinks their team needs to focus on the little things. “When we go up against strong teams, we have to think about how we can be more aggressive. For instance, I think we respected Brazil too much,” he told reporters.
He said with the players in mind, “That had a big influence on the result. We now know it hurts to get punched like that, and we have to learn how to fight back… After a big loss like the one we had, players can feel discouraged, and it can show on the field.”
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“To see my teammates put that behind and pounce on their chances, I felt really grateful as their captain. The biggest key was we did our thing and executed our plan, regardless of what the other team was trying to do.”
South Korea qualified earlier this year for the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
South Korea has qualified for every World Cup since 1986, establishing itself as a strong team in the world, reaching the semi-finals in 2002 when it co-hosted the tournament with neighbor Japan.
South Korea beat Europe’s strong teams Portugal, Italy, and Spain on their way to the semi-finals in 2002, but Germany stopped them from reaching the final.
This article includes reporting from Reuters.