Korea’s World Cup so far.
Copy intro from previous episode
Opening joke
SA: It should be coming out of the oven in a minute!
JT: This better be good! We’ve been slow cooking this for (check watch) 3 weeks.
SA: The seasoning and the marinade needed to set first!
JT: I’m saying you should’ve stuck with kangaroo jerky! But ostrich’s my fave. What happened to it? *joke sting*
SA: I’m guessing the customs officer ate it. You know how hungry they get. Remember what happened to your mother in law’s kimchi?
JT: Ohh I bet he didn’t enjoy that trip to the bathroom. Cleanup in squatter #3! Bring a big hose *joke sting*
SA: And…*bell sound* It’s done! We got all we need to talk about Korea’s performance in the World Cup so far!
JT: With extra salt from all the angry fans!
World Cup Group stage and whether they lived up to results
SA: Let’s start with Game 1. They played against Czechia on June 12.
JT: Their first and only win of the group. What song would you use to describe the game?
SA: BTS Butter. Consistent, flowy but not soft, yet missed the spot in some places. Son Heung Min put the pressure on in the first half but his shots went wide or got blocked. Then Czechia scored in the second half on a header by Ladislav Krejcí the 2nd, after a super long throw-in.
JT: I remember that shot because it broke the camera! The defense looked like they were entranced. Yes you can throw a ball that far. He was like the Josh Allen of Futbol throwing a bomb 70 yards, although I know it’s not American football’s and the 70 yard bomb a little exaggerated.
SA: After that South Korea got a bit lucky in the 67th minute when Hwang In-beom scored with flair by juking the flopped goalie and the defense. He definitely earned it. But Czechia didn’t stay down for long; they scored on a header off a free kick, but it got called off.
JT: A lucky offsides.
SA: Korea struck back when Oh Hyeon-gyu came on and he took a pass from the right side from Hwang In-beom and knocked it just past the goalie’s outstretched hands.
JT: Right before this things seemed very bleak to say the least, I think if Czechia doesn’t have their goal disallowed, then this doesn't happen. Thankfully it was disallowed and this was the kick in the butt that Korea needed, I thought it was a great looking goal for Korea and the Czechia defenders definitely looked gassed, but they had still enough gas to create some excitement near the end of the game.
SA: They would’ve been cooked in the late game if it wasn’t for 2 great saves by new father Kim Sang-gyu. Their defense was too wobbly in the late game. Not exactly an omen for future games, but you can’t keep relying on your goalie’s talent and positioning to save the day.
JT: We saw this coming in the warmup games with Hong’s 3 center back formation. Like you said in the preview, this formation would lead to defensive problems because the star players aren’t used to it.
SA: Now onto game 2, the following week against Mexico. What song would you use to describe that loss?
JT: I would love to use a KPOP song, but my knowledge of KPOP is not great. So I am going to be choosing back from my roots in the 90’s. I am also choosing this song based on not knowing the results of the South African game which we do know. But after the game I would have choosing tubthumping by chumbawamba, “Well be singing when we’re winning, We’ll be singing,....I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down.”
SA: Why did you choose that song?
JT: South Korea to me is a massive underdog facing the hometown team in front of a hometown crowd. Withstanding the first couple of minutes of the Mexican onslaught fueled by the electric crowd they were able to settle down to a first half stalemate.
SA: However fluke disaster 5 minutes into the second half would prove costly to the taekuk warriors. Tell us what happened, Mr. J.
JT: On what seemed to be a harmless cross for Julian Quinones, Korean goalie Kim Seung-Gyu (Who had a stellar tournament up to this point) went up to catch the ball but came down on his defender Lee Gi-Hyuck and it caused Seung-gyu to drop the ball right in the box conveniently to Luis Romo who tossed a volley over the goalie’s shoulder into the empty net.
SA: Just a fluke play, and then 7 minutes later Hong pulls Son (Talk about Son getting pulled early). Apparently there’s some backstage drama between Hong and Son, with weird rumors flying around but I’m not buying it. It might be KFA leaking fake rumors to cover something up. Son hasn’t generated much offense at this point so you wonder about his motor, but he played well in the warmups.
JT: Ya one has to wonder if Son felt slighted. It is most likely being the superstar’s last world cup, although he has not definitively confirmed his retirement, who knows 38 is the new 25 so maybe we will see him in four years.
SA: Ya well back to the game, Korea has a solid late push almost connecting on a goal in the 87th when Cho gue Sung with a close header. Goalie Raul Rangel showed excellent reaction time and then perfect recovery to stop the follow up shot by Yang Hyun Jun’s quick rebound shot.
JT: At the end of this game I felt like a moral victory for Korea, they didn’t look out of place. They got knocked down, but they got up again. How about you mister S how did you feel after watching the results?
SA: I wasn’t too surprised. The back end defense held out well, which was a major liability in the warmup games. But I had Mexico winning 4 to 1 because of home energy yet Mexico didn’t capitalize on their weak D like I thought they would.
JT: On too pisssing the night awaayyyyyy, pissing the night away.” which leads us to their final game, On the 25th against South Africa. I have a feeling I know which song you gonna pick.
SA: Oh, I’m not as melodramatic as some of the fans who picked Dead Can Dance, the Host of Seraphim.
JT: The ending song to the Mist when the dad kills his son and steps out of the car, shouting for the monsters to eat him. But instead the Army shows up and fights off the monsters. So, probably not that one. You wanna reserve that one for something like Brazil vs Germany 2014.
SA: No this was not a curb stomp. I was thinking more like Raiden X CHANYEOL 'Yours’. Hard to understand, lots of things going on, can’t get to the point. Ohhhh, just like this game!
JT: Yeah, South Africa went into this game down a few players, not enough training time, and a lucky tie against Czechia. A lot of the press, you included I might add, said they would be at a disadvantage.
SA: To be fair, I had South Africa scoring a goal in my prediction. I didn’t think South Korea would not score a goal. What I should’ve included in my script was the press conference in which the South African manager said he was targeting South Korea for an upset. You’d figure they’d be ready to prove the South African team wrong, but…
JT: But they did the exact opposite. Way to make the country proud, boys!
SA: South Korea had a lot of opportunities in the first half to score points. An early header went nowhere, a shot that could have gone in by Lee Kang-in banked hard right instead.
JT: South Africa also had a great chance when they lasered in a shot that bounced off Kim Seung-gyu’s chest, he fell down then a followup came right at him while he was on his knees. And where was the rest of the defense? Standing around at the edge of the box!
SA: South Korea had a header in the second half that could have gone in but the goalie made the right play. That was a major problem all game- taking chances on low percentage shots.
JT: And getting cooked in the back with long runs by South Africa’s centers.
SA: In the 63rd minute, disaster struck when Masako shot the ball under Castrop’s legs and just past the goalie’s arms, thanks to a great juke and pass from Moremi.
JT: That was when both defenders ran past him and gave him like 5 meters of opening. Castop was almost castrated, I coulda parked a car in that space, thoughts going through his head “my boys!” *joke sting*
SA: That was pretty much the game. South Korea had the ball 69 percent of the time and did fuck all with it, except pass it to Jens in the corner and expect him to pull rabbits out his ass. They didn’t send backup his way until the 80th minute! Many people, my wife included, thought the Korean team was slow-balling with the defenders, like they didn’t know how to pass it forward. And when they did, South Africa took it away. Or South Korea tried something and their players weren’t ready for the crosses, like when Lee Dong Woo overshot the ball.
JT: Park Jin-seob just missed the header from Jens that could have tied the game. It looked like from the start they were playing for the tie, I didn’t see the team that I saw vs Mexico and the coaches decision to not start Son might have been costly, The Taekuk warriors let a bad team hang around then it cost them dearly.
SA: This was a disappointing winnable game, but hats off to the South African team for preparing a tight & strong defense that stymied Hong’s deep ball strategies. And we’re going to talk a lot about Hong… after the break.
What could happen to Coach Hong? And the team
JT: After this World Cup it seems Coach Hong is walking the plank! That was pretty much a foregone conclusion with the KFA president resigning.
SA: On June 29 according to reports in Yonhap News, he turned in his badge *cheering sounds*. Yup, that’s pretty much the national mood.
JT: So let’s go over what Coach Hong did wrong. To me you obviously gotta get your best players on the field. It's the damn world cup for christ’s sake. The only game I felt hope for was the second game vs Mexico. They looked like a good team
SA: On paper they were good but in the run-up, they were not. I think they had too many injuries and Hong was too cautious. I don’t believe he was playing to lose but it looked like he didn’t have a plan for half the team at 80 percent readiness and the other half lacking experience or coming off bad Pro seasons.
JT: The injury problem doesn’t excuse their lack of offense, especially their out of sync attacks. So what’s the deal with Coach Hong? The KFA had to have known this about him.
SA: Coach Hong’s been a controversial coach since the first run in 2014 where he was accused of holding parties in Brazil instead of preparing the team. But a lot of controversy on his most recent stint came from the selection process. Apparently foreign coaches were interviewed and they prepared meticulous reports on Korean players but the KFA leadership overstepped the rules and hired Hong on the basis that they wanted a locker-room boss. Unfortunately, that meant a lack of effective tactics as we saw in the matches they lost as well as a lack of flexibility. There’s also the issue that he had a habit of following the nepotism route of bringing on players from his high school, from Korea Uni or other places he had a role in. I don’t believe that he had it out for Son Heung Min or anything like that. Son’s not as effective as he used to be, but I’m still roasting Hong for the roster choices because soooo many of them were injured.
JT: Did the fans throw yeot candies at the coaches when they came home?
SA: No but there was a drum band and the police cordoned off a section of the lobby so randos wouldn’t run up and punch him. Also today in the Chosun Biz, some fans filed complaints against him, KFA President Chung Mong-gyu, and former association technical director Lee Im-seng for coercion, intimidation, obstruction of business, and breach of trust in the course of duty. So he’s gone to the US like a Cold-War dictator fleeing the revolution *joke sting*. Son had a better homecoming, but that’s to be expected.
JT: (Make fun of the netizens throwing a fit, like the guy that posted he wants to die because the team lost and another guy who wanted to be born Chinese instead) I also saw he was banned from select GS 25’s man when you’re down and can’t get a 4 for 12 *joke sting*
SA:Used to be 4 for ten back in my day.
JT: Speaking of drinks you said you’d get a Mexican drink and a South African drink if they won. What’d you buy?
SA: My last time in Mexico I got some Mezcal, which is kinda like tequila but worse so I punished my liver with a few shots of that *joke sting* Then I bought some South African wine on Wednesday, which I’m gonna bust open after the break.
Joongang Group going bankrupt, game broadcasts blamed.
JT: And now we have an odd segway to make, into the broadcasting world. As we mentioned earlier, JTBC purchased the broadcasting rights for FIFA and the Olympics. But now, they’ve got money problems. Take it away, Mr. S! You love the deep dives!
SA: Joongang Group, the owner of JTBC, has filed for a creditor-led workout program according to reports on June 19th in the Korea Times.
JT: A workout program? Are they gonna be in the gym, pumping iron? *joke sting*
SA: Hahaha they wish it was that simple! If doing pullups paid money, the whole staff would be in the gym, making those gains *joke sting*! So JTBC defaulted on a 20.6 billion won ($13.6 million) debt repayment over 5 of the companies in the group, which led to Hanyang Securities demanding early repayment. Their credit rating also took a dive.
JT: What led to this financial disaster?
SA: The paper mentions that JTBC spent 500 million us dollars on rights to broadcast the Olympics from 2026 through 2032 and the FIFA World Cup through 2030 on JTBC. That seems to be the main cause.
JT: Seems like JTBCs got problems like Diamond Sports back home.
SA: Exactly, but in a different way. The joongang group tried to put out an IPO with Shinhan and NH underwriting it a few years ago, with shares of Contentree JoongAng as collateral. At the time, SLL JoongAng was assessed as a blue-chip IPO candidate with a value of 2 trillion won. They even got 400 billion won in pre-IPO investment from Praxis Capital Partner and Tencent in 2021. But the IPO still didn’t happen, JTBC tried to do a management sale and attract new investment, but credit drops, content production cost increases and lower profits made the whole group less attractive.
JT: So it’s not quite like diamond sports which blamed the streaming services for their losses, but more likely bad business planning and big budget flops? And of course, those high sports fees.
SA: Naver-owned Chzzk streaming is making BANK on these games, according to Chosun Biz. Dunno what sub-rights deal they struck with JTBC, but recent news about missed payments to FIFA caught my attention. I’m surprised JTBC didn’t pay for the rights outright. They wouldn’t have been screwed by the weakened won if they had paid in advance. Anyway if NH and Shinhan and the other securities firms don’t get their money, then Joongang gets broken up, there will be problems with those investors’ balance sheets. That means decreased investment in other fields.
JT: So because Korea didn’t advance in the world cup, the ad revenue won’t be as robust? That means JTBC and Joongang group will struggle to pay their bills, which will make the banks struggle and decrease investment. That means-
SA: Yup, the first time the World Cup led to a recession. I’m not gonna put that blame on the World Cup team, though. As reported in the Chosun Biz, there were plenty of doubts within these big investment firms that Joongang was overvalued. It’s more like a poorly built stool with a too wide top.
JT: And everything’s balanced on a wobbly leg like some Jenga structure. Now it makes you wonder?
SA: Yeah, like, what if some JTBC execs went into the locker room and said Hey guys can you please go deep into the cup? We need the ad revenue or we’ll go bankrupt. Speaking of ad revenue, a word from our sponsor.
Copy Plug for Yonosim from last week’s episode
GOTW
JT Pick: (If you want a non-baseball idea, there’s wheelchair basketball this weekend, or Friday’s FIBA Korea vs Chinese Taipei on Coupang Pass)
JT: If you’re still following World Cup, you’re in luck! The matches will still be in the morning Korea time, which leaves plenty of time to go to our Game of the Week!
SA: What’s on your radar this week?
JT: Well thanks to possibly future worst persons of the week winner my pick is The 81st Cheongryonggi (Blue Dragon Cup) National High School Baseball Championship this weekend where two powerhouses go head to head, Defending champions Ducksoo high school vs a school known for pumping out KBO pitching prospects Gangneung High School the game will take place on July 4th 11:30am at mokdong Stadium, Baseball on America’s birthday gotta love it.
SA: (my response) then ask this question, How can we watch it ?
JT: For the round of 16 it should have a live broadcast on the internet, but starting from the quarterfinals SPOTV will be covering the tournament if you got that Korean Cable.
SA: (my response)
JT: What’s your pick? More baseball?
SA: Nope, we’ve got footie! The K-league returns from the World Cup break this weekend with matches on Saturday and Sunday. I’m gonna focus on Sunday’s matches that aren’t squash games.
JT: I saw the schedule. Lotta squash games this week, including our Gwangju FC team. Ooof that one’s gonna sting.
SA: Gwangju FC’s out of the FIFA penalty box so they signed Brazilian defender João Pedro. There was a lot of movement around the league last month during the break. Anyway, my game picks are Seoul vs Incheon Sunday at 7:30pm in the World Cup stadium. Or you can go to Changwon for Gyeongnam vs Cheonan at Changwon 축구센테. Seoul World Cup shouldn’t sell out for this, but I wouldn’t dawdle.
JT: And we know Gyeongnam’s not selling out, not in a thousand years! *joke sting*
Stars of the Game
SA: Time for Stars of the Game! Where we talk about a famous athlete that deserves the spotlight.
JT: And we wanna talk about something other than horrible coaches for 15 minutes.
SA: I feel bad for Jets podcasters. They must be off their rockers by now.
JT: I’ve tuned in to a few of their shows and they’ve got every disorder in the DSM-5. Hell they even made a new one called Prolonged Grief Disorder, which was made for them specifically.
SA: I would’ve called it Unrequited Fandom Disorder, with mandatory Haloperidol injections in the ass. *joke sting* Anyway, this week my choice of star is Korean fencer Oh Sang-uk for winning the Asian Fencing championship title with borrowed gear.
JT: An Asian championship title winner (sound surprised) Wait what? Borrowed gear?
SA: OK, so there’s some wild political backstory to this.
JT: How? It’s fencing. Did he leave his foils in the voting booth?
SA: No, actually it’s much worse. Because the Seoul election protests blocked off the Jamsil Sports complex handball gymnasium, the national fencing team couldn’t get to their competition gear. According to reports in the Joongang Daily, they had to borrow gear from other fencers to take with them to India.
JT: So their offices were in the handball gym? That makes more sense but it could have been a tragedy. Imagine Chloe Kim borrowing a snowboard because she couldn’t bring hers to the Winter Olympics. The feel, the grips, nothing would be the same.
SA: It didn’t stop Oh Sang-uk’s dominating run, who is also an Olympic champion and gold medalist. He last won the Asian title in 2024, so I bet he was stoked. The siren song of victory entices all top athletes. Anyway, enough poetry from me. Who’s your Star?
JT: I am the baseball guy and my star of the week obviously going to be about baseball.
SA: Who do you got? I am sure it is not a tigers player.
JT: How dare you Mr. S I bleed the red and white and that is why my star of the decade is Mr. Kim Sun Bin breaking “the wind” Lee Jung Bums KIA TIger hit record of 1797.
SA: How did he do this?
JT: This passed Tuesday June 30th he tied the record, with a single to right field off pitcher Park Si-Hu in the 6th. KIA was dominating at this point 10-3, and he broke the record in the 8th ripping a double to center off relief pitcher Seo Jin Yong, in the ending match between KIA and SSG yesterday he added another hit, so the KIA tiger record currently sits at 1,799 hits and im hoping he plays a couple more years to get to 2000 hits.
SA: Wow that’s actually impressive though I feel like 5 hits should be deducted because Kiwoon sends up raw rookies to pitch and even sub mendoza line guys can hit the ball.
Ending
JT: That’s our show for today!
SA: Thank you for tuning in today. We hope you learned something about Korean Sports because if you didn’t, you will be visited by Korean goblins tonight *joke sting*.
JT: The worst kind. They get slime all over the floor. It’s why people here don’t buy many rugs. *joke sting*
SA: Pass this pod on to anyone interested in Korean sports and especially rookies because they are doomed without us *Joke sting*.
JT: Those poor unfortunate souls.
SA: If you wish to read along or contact the show, visit our website at hwatingsportspodcast dot com or our Facebook page and everything you need is right there.
JT: Give our podcast 5 stars if you have time and leave a message. Hate mail will be ruthlessly mocked. Fan mail will also be mocked but in a nicer way.
SA: Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. You can reach him on Instagram @daf_daffy247. Cover art thanks to our cycling expert James!
JT: A shoutout to our listeners in Karnataka, India! Home of the….Jainist Gommateshwara statue, it’s the one with the giant dong in the middle, that’s in Shravanbelagola. I know I botched most of that.
SA: Wikipedia didn’t include a pronunciation guide, so eh, close enough. Anyway their state team is also famous for winning 7 cricket titles which is second to Mumbai. They’re the St. Louis Cardinals of Indian cricket!
JT: We’ll be back next week with some more baseball history!
SA: Our next target is the Samsung Lions! Lion up, Korean Sports fans!
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast get suits and other dress clothes from Badwill Charities, now open in Dae-hara mall in Daegu! Badwill’s got it all; from sport coats of all sizes to pants with bloodstains! Need a bowtie, a fake tie, or a choker? Do you need suspenders from the dark age? Badwill only sells the best from Korea’s serial killer closets! (speed up) City money not accepted!
Notes
Why Korea keeps returning to soccer every four years
S. Korea team psychologist says players in 'stable' spot
Korean fencer Oh Sang-uk reclaims Asian Championships title with borrowed gear
ChatGPT predicts Korea, Japan exit at round of 32 in 2026 World Cup - CHOSUNBIZ
Lee Chun-soo: South Korea 'Looked to Lee Kang-in, Deserve Criticism'
World Cup rights propel CHZZK surge as South Korea tests post-event retention - CHOSUNBIZ
JTBC Denies Rumors of Halting World Cup Broadcasts, Productions
JoongAng Ilbo files for creditor-led workout program - The Korea Times
SLL JoongAng IPO collapse puts Korea brokerages on hook as affiliates fail - CHOSUNBIZ
Hong Myung-bo flies to U.S. amid Korea World Cup fallout, vows to speak - CHOSUNBIZ