“Korea is ready. There is no point in saying we are ready, so we will prove it by winning against Saudi Arabia the day after tomorrow.”
Oh Hyun-gyu (Celtic) spoke with reporters ahead of the media-open training session at the Al Egla Training Center in Doha, Qatar, at 10:00 p.m. (KST) on Aug. 28, and he sounded confident that South Korea will advance to the next round with a win against Saudi Arabia.
“The atmosphere in the squad is very good,” said Oh. Everyone is working together as a team and preparing for the Saudi game. We’re going into it with the mindset that it’s the final,” he said, adding, “We, the Koreans, are ready. I don’t think there’s any point in saying we’re ready. We will prove it by winning the game the day after tomorrow.”
Klinsmann, who had been training in the morning since arriving in Doha, Qatar from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), switched to afternoon training. “When I trained in the morning, I had time in the afternoon, and when I trained in the afternoon like today, I had time in the morning,” Oh said. “It’s up to the individual to adapt accordingly. Since the game is in the evening, we adjusted the time like this, and the quality of training will be better because the weather is good.”
Klinsmann has been criticized for his forward line’s inability to create goals. They actually scored eight goals in the group stage, but that number is halved if you count field goals. Oh, of course, hasn’t received much playing time, but as a frontline striker, he may not be immune from this responsibility.
“For me, I always have the confidence to score goals. I’m always ready to score if I get the chance, and I always play with the idea of winning,” he said. “If I’m lucky enough to score, that would be great, but even if I don’t, I’ll do my best to go the extra mile for the team.”
When asked what ‘captain’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) talks about with the players, Oh Hyun-gyu said, “He talks a lot of positive things to everyone. As the captain, he leads the atmosphere by saying good things and doing physical gags so that the atmosphere doesn’t sag.” “Seeing that, I think the youngest players should also make the atmosphere better. I don’t have a problem with the fans being concerned about the atmosphere. We got through the group stage and now we’re just looking at the round of 16 against Saudi Arabia.”
Speaking about their Round of 16 opponent, Saudi Arabia, Oh said, “I’ve seen them play a few times, and I’ve watched their group games. We’ve analyzed them, but we just need to play well instead of worrying about our opponent. I think we can win if we prepare well,” he said. When asked about Saudi Arabia’s strong defense, which has conceded just one goal in their last eight matches, he confidently replied, “I think it’s because we haven’t played Korea.”
When asked what he talks about with the Korean national team coach, Jürgen Klinsmann (GER), Oh said, “He was a striker in his playing days and what you want from a striker is goals. He says you never know what’s going to happen in the offensive zone, so you always have to be ready for it.”
Saudi Arabia is expected to host around 30,000 fans. Naturally, the Taeguk Warriors will have to play in an environment that is almost like an away game. The key is to keep their concentration as high as possible. “I think it will be rather fun,” Oh said, “In fact, if there are no fans, it might be quiet and we might not feel like we are playing, but if there are many fans, whether Korean or Saudi, we will be able to play with more excitement.”