Block out boos and think of World Cup, urges South Korea’s Lee

SEOUL: South Korea’s Lee Kang-in urged his team-mates to ignore the critics and focus on the World Cup after fans booed during their underwhelming 1-0 friendly win over Ghana.

The Koreans scraped the victory on Tuesday to round off a year that saw them qualify for an 11th straight World Cup but fail to sparkle on the pitch. Hong Myung-bo’s side were hammered 5-0 by Brazil in a home friendly last month in front of 63,000 spectators before beating Paraguay and Bolivia in performances that left fans distinctly unimpressed. In contrast, only 33,256 showed up against Ghana and many of them jeered Hong.

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee acknowledged that the Koreans were not at their best but called on his team-mates to keep believing in what they were doing. “There are all sorts of perspectives among football fans and even among us players, the way we watch and understand the game differs, so I think it’s only natural for those opinions to come up,” said the 24-year-old.

“But rather than paying attention to that, our players and the coaching staff focus on what the team needs to perform at its best and produce the best possible results.” Lee Tae-seok headed the winner in the 63rd minute before Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan missed a penalty around 10 minutes later. Fans cheered when captain Son Heung-min was shown on the big screen but showed their displeasure towards the coach. “Of course it would be ideal if we could deliver a style of play that satisfies everyone, and we will work towards that,” said Lee Kang-in.