South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo met with key players competing in Europe to check on their condition and offer encouragement.
According to the Korea Football Association on March 3, Hong traveled to Europe in February with national team coaches Kim Dong-jin and Kim Jin-gyu to meet with squad members. Over two weeks, Hong watched matches and held discussions with players across England, Germany, and France.
Hong's first stop was England. He traveled to London to watch matches of players competing in the English Championship (second division): Eom Ji-sung (Swansea City), Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), and Yang Min-hyuk (Coventry City).
He then met with these players along with other England-based squad members including Paik Seung-ho (Birmingham City), Jeon Jin-woo (Oxford United), and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for group discussions.
After completing his England schedule, Hong moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, where he met with Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Jens Castrop (Borussia Mönchengladbach) from the Bundesliga.
He also watched a match of Kwon Hyuk-kyu (Karlsruhe), who plays in Bundesliga 2 (second division), to assess his condition.
Hong additionally met with Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) in the Netherlands before traveling to Munich, Germany, to meet Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich).
The coaching staff then traveled to Paris, France, where they met with Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), concluding their European visit before returning to Korea on March 1.
Players who could not be met due to scheduling constraints—including Cho Gue-sung and Lee Han-beom (both at FC Midtjylland, Denmark), Lee Tae-seok (Austria Wien, Austria), Lee Hyun-joo (Arouca, Portugal), and Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic, Scotland)—were visited separately by the national team's Portugal-based coaching staff, who watched their matches and held discussions.
Through the association, Hong stated, "Due to various external circumstances (the situation in Mexico), the World Cup seems to be drawing significant attention even before it begins. Our national team will not be swayed by such external factors and plans to do our best with what we can control."
He added, "Through this trip, I was able to check on the condition of key national team players and have various discussions. With 100 days until the tournament opener, I will ensure that all staff and players prepare well for the competition in their respective positions."