The father of Korean soccer’s “captain” has been straightforward in Korean soccer. Even though his son is the captain of the Korean national team, he didn’t spare a bitter criticism against the Korean soccer community with his strong straightforwardness. Son Woong-jung, the coach of the SON Soccer Academy, said, “We hope to win the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, but for the future of Korean soccer, we should not win it.”
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Son said, “In total, Korea cannot even play a game against Japan. Korea lags behind Japan in every aspect, including soccer skills and investment in the soccer community. We must not win the championship.” Son said, “Not only I but all soccer players should reflect on their failure to win a single championship for 64 years.”
However, there are high expectations for the upcoming championship. Son Heung-min, who is displaying world-class skills at Tottenham Hotspur, has reached his peak. This is because top-rated players are deployed across all positions including Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and Kim Min-jae, the main center back of prestigious Bayern Munich (Germany). On top of that, Cho Kyu-sung, Lee Jae-sung, Jung Woo-young and Oh Hyun-kyu are also overseas players and are showing good performance in their teams. Currently, Son is not injured.
Coach Sohn is also aware of the fact. He knows there is a strong possibility to win the championship. However, he was worried that with this victory, Korean soccer would ignore its shortcomings again and dwell only on winning the championship.
“Of course, I hope (Korea) will win the championship. But if Korea wins the championship when it is not prepared enough, how much more will it worry about the result? I am worried that Korea’s soccer will get sicker further due to the influence of the championship.”
He then stressed once again, “No matter how you trick your empty skills into getting ahead of Japan once, it’s deceiving yourself. To be cool-headed, you can’t win.” 파친코