BEING DENIED is South Korea’s record against African countries in the World Cup should raise hope in the Bafana Bafana camp as they will fight for a place in the Last 32 with the Group A wrap-up game tomorrow at 3 am at Monterrey Stadium, Guadalupe.
Bafana, who have put a brake on the group’s log, must win if they are determined to make history by advancing to the knockout stage for the first time since they started playing in the World Cup in 1998.
Confidence should be high for Hugo Broos’ boys since the record is against South Korea in the World Cup when they face African national teams.
It will be the first time in history that Bafana face South Korea at the international level. However, South Korea will not be facing an African country for the first time in the World Cup.
In the four games that this Asian team has played with an African country in the World Cup, they have won once.
In 2006 in Germany, South Korea won 2-1 against Togo, which was a result they had been following for a long time.
In 2010 in South Africa, this team coached by Hong Myung-bo, fought against Nigeria 2-2 in the group game.
It didn’t end there for South Korea to struggle against an African country in the World Cup since in 2014 in Brazil, the national team led by Heung-min Son, as captain, lost 4-2 to Algeria.
South Korea was included with Ghana in their group in Qatar in 2022 which is historic that the Black Stars won 3-2.
What is noteworthy about South Korea is that even Bafana can score first but they have the experience to come back in the game. However, it is noticeable that it gets tired when the game is over.
Bafana still played alongside Asian teams in the World Cup. It drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia in 1998 in France.