South Korean footballers were mentally tougher than their British counterparts in the stunning quarterfinals victory at the London Olympics, South Korea's head coach said Saturday.
After South Korea shocked the host nation 5-4 in the penalty shootout Saturday, head coach Hong Myung-bo praised his players for their resilience.
"Our players had some physical issues and we anticipated an extremely difficult match," Hong told reporters. "But they held their ground much better than expected. I think we were able to win against Britain because our players were mentally stronger."
South Korea’s head coach Hong Myung-bo and other staffs celebrate their victory over Britain following a men's soccer quarterfinal match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Saturday. (Yonhap News)
The victory put South Korea in the semifinals against Brazil on Tuesday. Japan and Mexico round out the final four.
South Korea and Britain were tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. In the shootout, South Korean keeper Lee Bum-young denied Daniel Sturridge, the fifth British kicker, before Ki Sung-yueng converted his chance as the fifth and final South Korean shooter.
Hong said he knew of Britain's poor track record in penalty shootouts at major events and it gave him the confidence that, should the match come down to that, his side would have a chance.
As a member of the 2002 FIFA World Cup team, Hong scored arguably the most famous penalty shootout goal in South Korean history, converting his shot as the final shooter against Spain to send Korea to the semifinals.
But he said he didn't try to talk about his own experience and only told them to do what they'd done in practice.
During regulation, starting goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong made a key save on Aaron Ramsey's penalty attempt, which came only minutes after his first, and successful, penalty chance.
"Our players should have kept their cool," Hong said.
"Fortunately, Jung kept the score tied and we were able to extend the match to the shootout."
Penciling in forward Ji Dong-won in the starting lineup for the first time in London appears to have been a gamble, at least until Ji scored the first goal of the game in the first half. Ji plays for the English side Sunderland and that is part of why Hong decided to start him.
"I knew he'd be familiar with those British players," Hong said. "I believed he could make quick adjustments and play with confidence and power."
After responding to the coach's faith, Ji said South Korea is only just getting started.
"We've all come here to win a medal," he said. "We never lost our focus until the end. I had chances to score in the second half and extra time, but the rest of the team did their best. We're all confident that we can achieve our goal."
This is the ninth Olympic appearance for South Korea, which has never won a football medal. It had reached the quarters only twice before this year. (Yonhap News)
