With tumultuous year done, natl. football team players want to make fans happy in 2025

What has been a roller coaster of a year for the South Korean men's national team ended Tuesday night in Jordan, where the 22nd-ranked team settled for a 1-1 draw against world No. 100 Palestine in a World Cup qualifying match.

It was South Korea's sixth Group B match in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers and also their last international match of 2024.

It closed the book on one of the most tumultuous years in South Korean football in recent memory, a season that featured a disappointing exit from the top continental tournament, in-house fighting during that same competition, the dismissal of one head coach and then the controversial hiring of his replacement, followed by a government probe into operations at the Korea Football Association.

Through it all, South Korea finished the year with 10 wins, six draws and one loss. Their next set of matches will be in March 2025.

After scoring the lone South Korean goal against Palestine, captain Son Heung-min summed it up as a year during which "so many things happened."

"I hope that the players here will all come together as one and make the new year a happy one for our fans and a special one for ourselves," said Son, who netted his 51st international goal to move into sole possession of second place on the country's all-time list.

South Korea's lone defeat of the year came against Jordan in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup, a 2-0 loss that set off a chain of events that rocked South Korean football for the rest of the year.

After South Korea failed to snap their 64-year continental title drought, it was revealed that Son and midfielder Lee Kang-in had gotten into a scuffle on the eve of the semifinals. They had argued over whether Lee should stop playing table tennis and join Son and others for a team dinner. Son played the Jordan match with a dislocated finger in his right hand as a result of their shoving match.

Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired within days of the Asian Cup elimination. South Korea then cycled through two caretaker managers for the next four matches, before the current boss Hong Myung-bo was hired in July.

His appointment was met with swift backlash, with critics arguing that the KFA hadn't gone through a proper vetting process to bring Hong aboard and the coach had reneged on his earlier pledge not to leave his K League 1 club, Ulsan HD FC. Persistent questions over the fairness of the hiring process forced the government to open a probe into the KFA.

Midfielder Lee Jae-sung, part of the national team's leadership group at age 32 with 94 caps, said he and his teammates tried to stay focused on the task at hand throughout the year.

"It's been an eventful year, but we all tried to stay committed and sacrifice ourselves," Lee said. "I think we gave our fans at least a little bit of joy that way."

Lee said he was disappointed not to have won the final international match of 2024, but he also tried to look on the positive side.

"I think we all made progress during some challenging times," Lee added. "I think we have been able to stay together as a team even with so much happening around us. Hopefully, we can stay that way and bring even more joy to many fans."

Fellow midfielder Hwang In-beom, another national team mainstay with 66 caps, conceded that the year "has not been easy on us players, to be honest."

"In the locker room, we've always said it's our responsibility and duty to do the best we can on the field and make our supporters happy," Hwang said. "Today, the result was a little disappointing, but we've been doing our best all along. We know we have to get better. And when we get back on the field in March next year, we will address our shortcomings, continue to do the best we can and make our fans happy." (Yonhap)