Former head coach Hong Myung-bo, center right, is seen with players of the national football team after landing at Incheon International Airport, early Tuesday, as they returned following Korea's exit from the FIFA World Cup after the group stage. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Former head coach Hong Myung-bo and a few of his players for the South Korean men's national football team were met with boos from angry people as they returned home Tuesday from a short stay at the FIFA World Cup.
Hong and nine of his 26 players landed at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, in the wee hours of Tuesday, a little over 24 hours after Hong announced his resignation from the post to take responsibility for South Korea's exit from the World Cup after the group stage.
South Korea finished third in Group A with three points from a win and two losses. The Taegeuk Warriors began the competition by defeating the Czech Republic 2-1, but suffered successive 1-0 defeats against Mexico and then lower-ranked South Africa.
With the eight best third-place teams out of 12 also getting a chance to play in the knockout round, along with the top two nations from each of the 12 groups, South Korea ended up 10th among the dozen teams that finished third in their groups.
