JUNE 4 — Former head coach Guus Hiddink said he preferred South Korea's newer, more attacking style of play, urging the team to stick to their guns despite a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Brazil in a friendly
Neymar scored a pair of penalties as Brazil dominated in an often one-sided contest on Wednesday, in which Hwang Ui-jo scored South Korea's only goal.
Hiddink, who coached the Korean national soccer team to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, said South Korea should "keep their style of play" and pay attention to the finer details instead of making a significant change to their approach.
"If not, players get a little bit insecure," Hiddink told reporters at a Korea Football Association conference on Friday. "Mainly, you must stick to your way of play. You must work on your details.
"I wouldn't like Korea to go back to old times, playing with five or even sometimes six defenders, always guarding their own box. I like the way they play now more than the old style."
South Korea captain Son Heung-min has expressed hope the defeat would prove to be a learning experience for the World Cup-bound team.
Hiddink echoed the Tottenham Hotspur forward's comments, saying, "Hopefully, they will learn from this.
"If you go play a bit naive and lose your possession easily, next to your box, then you're in trouble. The key is, don't make stupid errors. But don't forget you played one of the two or three best teams in the world."
South Korea play Chile, Paraguay and Egypt this month as they prepare for their 10th successive appearance at the World Cup finals in Qatar later this year. — Reuters
