World Cup exit leaves South Korean football in crisis

World Cup exit leaves South Korean football in crisisImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hong Myung-bo was made South Korea head coach in 2024ByJohn DuerdenAsian football expertPublished2 minutes agoComments"I am genuinely very sorry," Hong Myung-bo said on Sunday as he resigned as head coach of South Korea, just hours after the team's elimination from the 2026 World Cup was confirmed. The head of the legendary former player, who captained the 2002 team to the semi-finals, was not the first to roll and won't be the last, with the country up in arms as former Manchester United star Park Ji-sung said: "It is miserable that we've come to this moment where we have to look back and ask why we ended up here."The anger has led to reported death threats on the coach, as well as the locations of player and staff arrivals back to South Korea being kept a secret. But the reaction is not just down to a dismal fortnight in Mexico. This has been brewing for a while. 'Hard to explain' Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hong Myung-bo and Son Heung-minFailure in Group A brought fan anger to boiling point.It started with a promising 2-1 win over the Czech Republic but then a team containing Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in of Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae lost 1-0 to Mexico. It left the Taeguk Warriors needing a point against South Africa to secure second.Hong, who also led the team to a group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup, left captain and talisman Son on the bench and the team slumped to defeat, with former Tottenham Hotspur defender Lee Young-pyo describing it on television as "the worst match by a Korean football team in the 21st century".After the game, a reporter asked Hong if there had been an outbreak of food poisoning in the camp or something similar, as there could be no explanation for such a performance. To make matters worse, South Korea had to wait more than three days in their traini...