South Korea must not make the error of showing bigger and more established teams too much respect in next year¡¯s World Cup, captain Son Heung-min warned.
South Korea, which was hammered 5-0 by five-time World Cup winner Brazil in an international friendly match last week, claimed a 2-0 home win over Paraguay on Tuesday.
¡°I think we have to pay attention to small details. And 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,¡± Los Angeles FC forward Son told reporters.
¡°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.
¡°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 for next year¡¯s World Cup finals in North America earlier this year.
It has qualified for every World Cup since 1986, reaching the semifinal in 2002 when it co-hosted the tournament with neighbor Japan.
During its run to the semifinal in 2002, South Korea beat Portugal, Italy and Spain before it was stopped by Germany.
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