The South Korean captain Son Heung-min, who was voted as the best player of the match, escorted his teammates who were criticized when they attended the game, while the head coach Kierenshwar Ali was admitted that there is still room for improvement. The head coach Kierenshaw admitted that the team's performance needs to be improved.
Heung-Man was disappointed with the result, but praised his rivals' performance: "Let's applaud them for not giving up until the last minute, it's a disappointing result for South Korea, but the most important thing is that we made it to the round of 16, so we have to prepare well for the upcoming matches.
"After the match, a South Korean reporter asked him what he thought about the criticisms of the players, Sun Xingmin, who had originally answered in English, suddenly switched to Korean and responded in a sincere tone: "I would like to answer this question in Korean, I would like to ask the South Korean media, I hope that you and the players will be on the same side, to protect the South Korean team. Some of our teammates feel hurt because of the criticisms they receive, and sometimes the criticisms are too much, we are all very hurt, and I am very sad to see our teammates suffer so much, some of them are house owners, some of them have children, and they are just ordinary people before they become players.
South Korea finished second in the group after being held to a goalless draw by Malaysia, avoiding the other favourite Japan in the round of 16, but head coach Kieran Swann denied any intention to "go for the jugular" after the match: "It was not in our plan to concede three goals today. I think two of the three goals scored by Malaysia were not deserved, and it was not even our goal to avoid Japan. South Korea only conceded two goals in the last 8 of last year's tournament, but have already conceded six in this year's group stage. However, Kierensmann remains confident that the real challenge will start in the knockout stages, and is confident that the team can make it all the way to the final and win the title. South Korea will face Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 in the early hours of next Wednesday (31) Hong Kong time.
