South Korea's Hong ⁠Myung-bo says Son was held back to exploit impressive South Africa

Reuters

South Korea's Son Heung-min before the matchREUTERS / Eloisa Sanchez

South Korea coach Hong ⁠Myung-bo said he had deliberately left captain Son Heung-min on ‌the bench in the hope the forward ‌could exploit tiring South ‌African legs after the break, but ‌conceded his side never found their ‌rhythm in a 1-0 defeat that left their World Cup fate ‌hanging in the balance on ⁠Wednesday.

"We ‌thought that when the opponents had a lot of energy it would be better to use Son later in the game, when they started losing energy and ⁠there was more space. We wanted to use him when they were weaker," Hong said.

Son replaced Hwang ‌Hee-chan at half-time but had little impact in the 1-0 loss.

"We prepared well, but compared to our previous matches we made too many mistakes in midfield. That's why my players lost confidence. We knew how we should have played, but we ‌should have done better. Today's performance was simply not good ‌enough," Hong added.