<Anchor>
At the Qatar World Cup in November, our team was organized into Group H with Portugal and Uruguay Ghana.
There are no easy opponents in the World Cup, but the 'group of death' was avoided and the match schedule was good, so expectations for the round of 16 have increased.
This news is reporter Kim Hyung-yeol.
<Reporter>
[Korea Republic]
Korea was selected as the last eighth of group 3, and in group 1, except for Qatar, the host country, Portugal, with the lowest FIFA ranking, and Uruguay with group 2, Ghana and Group H with the lowest participating country ranking.
Meeting the relatively weak countries in each group avoids the so-called 'group of death'.
[Paulo Bento/Soccer National Team Manager: We will compete with all our might, and we will check what we achieved when we finish three group matches.] After
meeting with Portugal, coach Bento said he would do his best, and
[Paulo Bento] / Soccer Team Manager: It is my first time playing against my country Portugal, so I think it will feel a little different from other times, so I think I need to prepare more myself.]
Santos Portugal, who was a mentor during Bento’s player days, said that he He expressed the burden of confrontation.
[Fernando Santos/Portugal National Team Manager: Korea is a good team led by Master Bento.
As a fellow Portuguese, both me and Bento wanted to avoid confrontation.]
Korea will play against Ghana and Portugal every four days, starting with Uruguay on November 24.
All three games were allotted at 4 and 6 pm to avoid the hottest daytime, and we had the advantage of playing only at the Education City Stadium, a 20-minute drive from the base camp.
Korea, which is the only team in Group H to play in this one place, is in the most advantageous position to adapt to the environment, including grass.
Japan, meanwhile, were assigned a group of death with champions Spain and Germany.
(Video editing: So Ji-hye, CG: Im Chan-hyuk)