ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- South Korea on Thursday arrived in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where they will play their second match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
South Korea's 23-man squad will take on Mexico for their second match in Group F at Rostov Arena at 6 p.m. on Saturday (Russian time). They arrived in the city after a two-hour flight from Saint Petersburg.
South Korea suffered a 1-0 loss to Sweden in their Group F opener at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod on Monday, while Mexico stunned defending champions Germany in Moscow with a 1-0 win last Sunday.
Son Heung-min of South Korea (L) dribbles the ball past Andreas Granqvist of Sweden during their Group F contest of the FIFA World Cup at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on Monday, June 18. (Yonhap)
After their defeat, South Koreans returned to their base camp in Saint Petersburg to focus on recovering their physical and mental fitness, while practicing tactics for the match against Mexico. Of the 23 players, only left back Park Joo-ho has not trained with the team, as he suffered a hamstring injury during the match against Sweden.
South Korea will have their official training in Rostov-on-Don at 5:30 p.m. Saturday after a pre-match press conference. Mexico are scheduled to begin their official one-hour training session at 7:30 p.m. the same day.
The Group F contest between South Korea and Mexico is the third match to be staged at Rostov Arena during the 2018 World Cup. The 45,000-seat stadium has already hosted the Group E match between Brazil and Switzerland and the Group A showdown between Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. (Yonhap)