u/CentreHalfBack

CAN:

Detect contact with half a dozen hairs waving in the breeze from a defenders head and where the ball travelled straight on.

CANNOT:

Detect heavy contact with a taut steel wire that deflected the ball in flight.

Me arse.

Another asterisked game in this asterisked world cup.

#FWC26*

####Why I am writing this post

I've seen a lot of comments on Reddit regarding the conclusion of South Korea's 2026 World Cup run, with many international fans assuming Korean supporters are just being "sore losers" or overreacting to tournament elimination.

This narrative is completely wrong.

The anger you are seeing from Korean fans (and the subsequent government investigation ordered by the President) is NOT a reactionary meltdown over losing football matches. It is a boiling point reached after years of blatant administrative corruption in KFA (Korean Football Association), destroyed democratic and legal processes, and the systematic sabotage of our country's greatest football generation.

####The Core Issue: It’s the Process, Not the Results

To understand the fury, you need to understand one thing: Korean fans have been angry because the mandatory, lawful selection process for the national team manager was completely bypassed to appoint an "inside man".

This isn't hindsight or result-oriented bias. Fans, pundits, and even current players were vehemently protesting Hong Myung-bo's appointment before he ever stepped onto the pitch for his first match. We knew from day one that the system was broken because we had just lived through the exact same nightmare with Jürgen Klinsmann. Including myself, there were so many fans who actually wanted the team to fail to advance to the round of 32, just so the root of the problem would finally be exposed.

####The Puppet Master: Chung Mong-gyu's Dictatorship

At the center of this disaster is Chung Mong-gyu, the billionaire President of the KFA.

Chung has treated the KFA like his own private fiefdom. He has consistently dismantled the checks and balances within the association. Instead of allowing the National Teams Committee (the designated body responsible for scouting and vetting managers) to do its job, Chung has repeatedly made unilateral, top-down decisions based on personal biases and political survival, completely shielding himself from accountability while tanking the national team's infrastructure.

####The Mockery of Qualified Candidates

Before Hong Myung-bo was arbitrarily handed the job, several highly qualified foreign managers were actively vying for the position. They treated the Korean national team with immense respect and did their homework:

Jesse Marsch: Reportedly flew out, met with KFA representatives, and prepared a detailed tactical presentation. He was highly motivated to coach Korea, but the deal collapsed due to the KFA’s administrative incompetence and financial mismanagement (he went on to coach Canada instead).

Hervé Renard & Gus Poyet: Both showed strong interest, with Poyet even conducting extensive tactical presentations demonstrating how he would utilize Korea's current squad.

####How was Hong Myung-bo selected instead?

Hong Myung-bo didn't even submit his resume. He didn't do a presentation. In fact, he had publicly stated multiple times to the Korean media that he had zero intention of taking the job.

Yet, the KFA Technical Director bypassed the committee's scoring system, met Hong at a late-night eatery, and practically begged him to take the job. No interview, no tactical vetting, no fair competition. He was appointed simply because he was a safe, domestic choice aligned with the KFA establishment.

####Timeline of a Systemic Collapse

Feb 2024: Jürgen Klinsmann is sacked after a disastrous Asian Cup campaign, exposing severe lack of tactical preparation and KFA mismanagement.

Mar-Jun 2024: The KFA National Teams Committee searches for a permanent manager. Top international candidates (like Jesse Marsch) express high interest but are botched by KFA leadership.

Jul 2024: The KFA abruptly announces the appointment of Hong Myung-bo, bypassing the official committee vetting process. Fans and former legends (like Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo) openly criticize the corrupt appointment process.

Late 2024: As public fury refuses to die down, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducts an official audit into the KFA, confirming massive procedural flaws and illegalities in Hong's hiring.

2025 - Mid-2026: Hong Myung-bo leads the team with uninspiring tactics, relying heavily on individual player brilliance rather than cohesive team structure.

Jun 2026: South Korea's World Cup campaign ends. The President orders a deep-dive investigation into the KFA and the manager selection process, fueled by a unified demand for structural reform from the public.

####A "Golden Generation" Utterly Wasted

What makes this truly heartbreaking for Korean fans is the squad we currently possess. This is arguably the most talented roster in Korean football history:

Son Heung-min (Premier League Golden Boot winner, world-class winger/leader)

Kim Min-jae (Serie A Defender of the Year, elite center-back for Bayern Munich)

Lee Kang-in (Creative midfielder for PSG)

Hwang Hee-chan (Proven Premier League goal scorer for Wolves)

Hwang In-beom (The absolute engine and primary playmaker in midfield, crucial for transitions)

Lee Jae-sung (The tactically brilliant, tireless box-to-box workhorse for Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga)

Cho Gue-sung (World Cup goalscorer and physical presence upfront, Midtjylland)

Oh Hyeon-gyu (A highly promising young striker adding clinical finishing to the attack)

We have a squad packed with elite talent playing at the absolute highest levels of European football. Any competent tactical manager could have turned this group into a formidable, cohesive giant on the world stage. Instead, the KFA forced a manager onto them who lacked modern tactical awareness, forcing world-class players to rely on "individual magic" rather than a functioning system.

#TL;DR

Korean fans aren't mad that we lost. We are mad because our corrupt FA President broke his own organization's rules to hire an unqualified insider, completely wasting the prime years of Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in. The government isn't investigating bad football; they are investigating administrative corruption.

--- EDIT ---

Sources:

• BBC Sports (Shows how the institutional chaos, lack of systematic vetting, and leadership failures within the KFA had already reached a boiling point early in 2024)
• The Korea Herald (Directly covers the September 2024 National Assembly hearing where KFA President Chung Mong-gyu and coach Hong Myung-bo were officially summoned and grilled by lawmakers over allegations of corruption)
• The Korea Times (Covers the peak of the 2025 crisis when the KFA filed an administrative lawsuit and successfully secured a temporary court injunction to freeze the Sports Ministry's suspension order. This legal loophole allowed Chung Mong-gyu to dodge immediate government penalties and controversially secure his 4th consecutive term despite massive public outcry)

I think the "MUST SEE" is this. This is what happened right after the assembly hearing (audit):

• The Korea Times

FIFA's 16th ranked team.

2 points total in the #FWC26

Absolute F R A U D S

World Cup Masterpiece...

En Español (English Subs)

https://youtu.be/1c5CVUb-KxI?si=0FOJnzHYJ6brKuu6

Hi Melb community..

Saw this sign at Footscray. On the up line, Sunbury line. But at the back end of the train.

(Yellow triangle on blue... sorry for bad pic)

​

For trains terminating at Footscray Platform 2 to return out to Sunbury?

​

​

Nike’s AI Designed World Cup Jerseys Are a Disaster

"As The Guardian reported, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the jerseys sported by their favorite athletes, including France’s megastar Kylian Mbappé, looked egregiously misshapen. Their fit physiques were overshadowed by a strange bulge on their shoulder seams where the fabric bunched together, as if the shirts took on a life of their own, tried to grow epaulettes, and gave up."

"The athletic apparel maker acknowledged the shoulder bulge issue in a statement to The Guardian, but didn’t address how it occurred.
“During the recent international break, we observed a minor issue with our Nike national team kits, most noticeable around the shoulder seam,” a Nike spokesperson said. “Performance is unaffected, but the overall aesthetic is not where it needs to be,” they added, as if describing some sort of race car."

Going well then, the old AI...

Ahmed Fatouh, Rami Rabia, and Hossam Abdelmaguid participated in these sketches.

14 yrs... gone too soon.

Cheap photo opp...? yeah, Gianni is here for it.
Fine play by the Palestine FA to refuse.