We all look the same to Europeans, says South Korea’s manager
South Korean manager Shin Tae-Yong has admitted his players have been exchanging shirts during training sessions and friendlies to confuse their European opponents.
South Korea’s Son Heung-min celebrates his goal against Honduras during a friendly football match between South Korea and Honduras in Deagu on May 28, 2018. World Cup-bound South Korea defeated Honduras 2-0 in the friendly match. / AFP PHOTO / Jung Yeon-je
This comes after reports of Sweden spying on South Korea and trying to find out their tactics ahead of their Group F clash at 2pm on Monday.
“It’s very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians, and that’s why we did that,” he told a news conference, as reported by Goal.
“I think we wanted to confuse the Swedish team. That’s why we did that.”
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“We swapped them around because we didn’t want to show our opponents anything. Ki Sung-yueng is probably known, as is Son Heung-min, but for the other players, it might be a little bit confusing.”
Attempts to confuse the Swedes may be necessary after it was reported that a member of the Swedish coaching staff ended up getting access to a Korean training session before being told to leave.
The man has been accused of trying to spy on their opponents, but Swedish coach Janne Andersson claimed it was an innocent mistake, and apologised to his side’s first opponents in Russia.
“He heard about a practice session,” he said, via The Guardian.
“He didn’t understand it was a closed session. He was asked to leave, and he watched from more of a distance as a result. If it has been perceived in another way, we apologise.”
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