[Sportschosun, Reporter Park A-ram] Kim Hee-chul, a member of the group Super Junior, expressed his disappointment over South Korea's exit from the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) U-20 North and Central America World Cup.
On the 28th, Kim Hee-chul shared a photo on his personal account along with a post that read, "The song is so sad. ELF and the people around me who taught me so much even though I don't know much about soccer..."
The photo showed Kim Hee-chul lying in bed and watching a soccer match.
He then added, "They say this happened because of one person's mistake... Sigh. The players really worked hard," leaving a message that was interpreted as supporting the national team while also taking aim at coach Hong Myung-bo.
Earlier, former football player Kim Young-kwang had also expressed regret over the management of the national team.
On the 25th, on the channel 'Kim Young-kwang,' he criticized Hong Myung-bo's decision to leave Son Heung-min out of the starting lineup, saying, "I don't understand why coach Hong Myung-bo suddenly developed 'great coach syndrome' and didn't use Heung-min in the best lineup. I'm really curious why he was left out of the starting XI. There was no explanation in the interview either. In the end, it seems he simply did not want to use Son Heung-min for the full 90 minutes."
"Great coach syndrome" is a newly coined term in the sports world used critically to describe a manager who clings too strongly to his own tactics and judgment, failing to fully reflect practical factors such as match conditions or player fitness.
Meanwhile, South Korea's elimination from the tournament was confirmed by the results of another group match held on the morning of the 28th, Korea time. The Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 in the third Group K match of the 2026 FIFA U-20 North and Central America World Cup, held in Atlanta, and finished third in the group with four points.
As a result, South Korea dropped to ninth place in the ranking of third-place teams and failed to advance to the round of 32. Under the tournament format, only the top eight third-place teams move on to the knockout stage, and South Korea was eliminated by the narrowest of margins.
tokkig@sportschosun.com
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