Players fail to come through for beleaguered coach in lackluster draw vs. Palestine

Returning to the helm of the South Korean men’s national football team after 10 years away, head coach Hong Myung-bo needed a convincing victory over Palestine on Thursday in Seoul to quiet at least some of his detractors.

However, Hong’s players failed to come through for their beleaguered coach, as South Korea settled for a goalless draw in their World Cup qualifying match at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Ranked 23rd, South Korea predictably dominated the run of play against 96th-ranked Palestine, but they wasted one opportunity after another, especially in the second half.

This match kicked open Group B play in the third round of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for both sides. Short of a loss, South Korea, as the highest-ranked team in the group, couldn’t have had a worse start to the campaign.

For Thursday, Hong was in the limelight as much as any player on his team.

Hong first coached South Korea from 2013 to 2014, and resigned after the country failed to make it out of the group stage at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He was an unpopular choice from the moment he was hired in July, two months before even coaching his first match. After firing Jurgen Klinsmann in February in light of a poor showing at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup, the Korea Football Association (KFA) began reviewing candidacies of foreign-born coaches and interviewed a few of them. That led the public to believe the KFA was intent on hiring a foreign coach, possibly one with a strong pedigree.

But the KFA made an abrupt turn and appointed Hong, who had publicly rejected the KFA’s overtures earlier this year. Hong once assured fans of Ulsan HD FC, the K League 1 club he’d been coaching since late 2021, that he would never leave their side for the national team. During the KFA’s prolonged coaching search, which also saw a key KFA executive resign for unclear reasons, Hong even criticized the national football body for its shoddy administration.

The KFA was criticized for ignoring its own vetting process and for essentially begging Hong to take the job. Hong himself was blasted for reneging on his pledge not to leave Ulsan and for only offering vague explanations for his decision.

Fans’ displeasure carried into Thursday’s match. Hong was booed mercilessly when he was introduced before the match and whenever he was shown on the two scoreboards during the contest.

Fans also held up banners taking jabs at both Hong and KFA President Chung Mong-gyu. They chanted, “Chung Mong-gyu, get out!” multiple times before and during the match.

And Hong’s players failed to send those fans home happy.

South Korea created virtually zero offense in the opening 40 or so minutes. Defenders and midfielders failed to connect on wide-open passes in their own half and in the middle of the pitch, and Palestinians pounced on those miscues for counterattack opportunities. And after turning the ball over, South Korean players chased down their opponents and committed needless fouls, with Hwang In-beom picking up a yellow card in the 20th minute.

When the South Koreans managed to get the ball into the attacking third, they were too slow and sloppy to make much out of those looks.

It only took some individual efforts by midfielder Lee Kang-in to put pressure on the Palestine defense in the late moments of the first half. In consecutive sequences, Lee fired a shot that forced goalkeeper Rami Hamada to make a close-range save and then set up Hwang In-beom for a shot that struck the side of the goal.

Hong replaced starting striker Joo Min-kyu with Oh Se-hun to begin the second half. The partnership between Oh and Lee showed some promise, with Lee finding the tall forward for a couple of close-range headers, but goalkeeper Rami Hamada stood tall in his net.

Just before the clock hit the hour mark, Lee Kang-in wasted a glorious opportunity from the right side of the box. He was wide open, with no defender in his vicinity, after Son’s pass trickled toward him, but Lee ended up firing the shot way over his target.

Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Hwang Hee-chan, who came on in the 58th minute, injected some life into the South Korean offense but ultimately, his forays into the area didn’t bear any fruit.

Hamada denied Lee on a free kick chance in the 73rd minute, while Son Heung-min found the woodwork when he had an open net in front of him in the 87th.

South Korea’s inability to capitalize on opportunities could haunt them even more as the third round continues Tuesday against Oman in Muscat.