Team Korea under Coach Stielike highly wary of players catching cold

Members of the Korean soccer team are fighting another unlikely foe: cold. Core players of Team Korea including Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen), Koo Ja-cheol (FSV Mainz), and Kim Jin-hyeon (Cerezo Osaka) all have caught cold. To prevent transmission to other players, the Korea Football Association recommended players to wear facial masks on Wednesday when they move to Brisbane, where a match against Australia will take place.

Australia, currently in summer season, is experiencing relatively chilly weather with continuing rain that lasted for several days. Due to severe fluctuations of daily temperatures, temperature that hit a daytime high of 30 degrees Celsius plunges in the morning and night, forcing people to wear long sleeved clothes. A KFA source said, “The mental burden that Korea should win the championship title for the first time in 55 years gives severe stress to players, weakening their immune system.”

Team Korea had difficulties due to cold at the World Cup Brazil last year as well. In the final days of its training camp in Miami, the U.S., a string of players caught cold, and ended up failing to fully recover their physical conditions. This time, it is somewhat fortunate that Taegeuk Warriors have more than a week until the quarterfinal matches.