Coach Hiddink’s Press Interview

“I hope you will think positively that each day of the 50 days until the World Cup will raise the possibility of the final 16 by 1 Per Cent.”

In the press interview that occurred at Korea Football Association on the 9th, the Korean national soccer team’s coach Guus Hiddink said, “As the World Cup has drawn near within only 50 days, every soccer fan is interested in what their national teams can achieve. But even the world’s best France cannot be 100 Per Cent sure about advancing into the final 16.”

Hiddink also added, “France and Argentina have great probability for the final 16, because they have lots of experience. On the other hand, we have less probability, because we never made it to the final 16 before. But I have been raising that probability ever since last year.”

He explained, “The players followed me well for the past one and a half years, and we now have capability to compete any country in the world. Let us say that the possibility for the final 16 is 50 Per Cent, and it will increase by 1 Per Cent everyday for the rest of 50 days.”

“Korea’s defense line and midfield performance became stable, and especially, physical stamina reached the world-level. All there is left for the final 16 is strategy and goal decisiveness,” said Hiddink.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com