"It's more humiliating to have lost three times to Japan than to finish in third place."
The men's national soccer team, led by Hong Myung-bo, lost 0-1 to their rival Japan in the third match of the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), held at Yongin Mir Stadium at 7:24 p.m. on the 15th.
Japan, with three wins in the tournament, achieved its third overall championship. Japan defeated Korea on its home turf and also secured back-to-back titles. Korea still holds the record for the most championships with five wins, but has been outperformed by Japan in two consecutive tournaments.
The East Asian Cup, which does not have FIFA's mandatory player selection regulations, was composed mainly of domestic players, excluding European players. Naturally, popular European players such as Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in were absent from the national team. This provided a good opportunity to test domestic players.
Although the intention was good, the tournament's appeal could not escape a disastrous turnout. For Korea's match against China, 4,426 people attended. On Saturday, 12th, only 5,521 people came to the match against Hong Kong. The entire nation was experiencing sweltering heat, with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius until the 13th. The tournament was mainly held on weekdays, and the poor public transport to Yongin Mir Stadium also contributed to the negative outcome.
The final was different. Despite the absence of Son Heung-min, there was a clear draw in the Japan-Korea match, which is a significant promotional card. From the 14th, rain fell throughout the country, and the heat subsided. The rain continued until the morning of the 15th but stopped in the afternoon. With a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius and a cool breeze, the conditions for playing soccer were optimal.
A total of 18,418 spectators attended the final match between Korea and Japan. This was the highest attendance of the tournament. The Yongin Mir Stadium, which can accommodate more than 37,000 people, was filled to about half.
Surprisingly, hundreds of fans from Japan, known as 'Ultra Nippon', came to support and occupied the stands. They waved large Japanese flags and shook blue bags while chanting "Nippon." The Japanese supporters were louder than those from Korea.
The size of the Korean cheering squad, the Red Devils, was only about half that of Japan's, making it seem quite small. The voices of the Japanese fans were significantly louder, even leading some to wonder if this was indeed Korea. Of course, most of the spectators supported Korea.
Although Son Heung-min was absent, Korea was comprised of the best players from the K League. Many players in the defense line could have played as starters in the World Cup. Still, Korea lost to Japan on home turf. This is not a situation where they can simply console themselves by saying that key players like Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in were missing. In particular, Japan is
Mao Yuan, a reporter from China's 'ZhuBo Dot Com', noted, "Korea must win to claim the championship, but they lost 0-1 at home," commenting that "the issues with Korean soccer, which has been definitively falling behind Japan, were clearly manifested. Korea is still playing at a level similar to Japan's third or fourth-string players."
In fact, it is the first time in history that Korea has been defeated three times in consecutive matches against Japan. Especially since the number of direct encounters has decreased since 2020, they have effectively lost all matches. Mao Yuan expressed joy, stating, "Korea's three consecutive losses to Japan are probably more shameful than China finishing in third place."
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