There were no smiles on the faces of the Korean national football team players as they gathered for their first training session under interim head coach Hwang Sun-hong. Both Hwang and the players were quiet as if they were conscious of the poor result of the Asian Cup in Qatar and the following controversies, including the fight between players at a table tennis room.

Ahead of a home match against Thailand in the second qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and USA on March 21, the national team held a training session in Goyang on the 18th. The footballers did not participate in an interview before the training session, and Hwang alone had a short interview for about five minutes. Even though it was the first training session after Hwang took over as interim head coach, the training session was open to the media for only 15 minutes, which is about half of what it used to be.

The players were silent while stretching. It was completely different from what they used to be during the Asian Cup in Qatar when they greeted reporters first and talked and laughed at each other constantly throughout the training session. An official from the Korea Football Association (KFA) said, "From now on, the players do not plan to conduct prior interviews before training other than official press conferences," explaining that “it was a request from Hwang.”

"I think we have to do our best to prepare to make up for what we let you down, and when I talked to the players, and I realized that the players were under a lot of pressure after talking with them," Hwang said, adding, "I hope you to help the players focus on training and prepare for the upcoming match."

The call-up training drew more attention after it was revealed that Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, as well as the captain of the national team, had intended to retire from the national team after the Asian Cup.

In an interview after the match against Fulham F.C. on the 17th, Son said, “If it was just me, I would have retired from the national team, but I’ve made a promise with fans and also I have a responsibility to play for the national team as long as I can.”

About Son’s remarks, Hwang said, "It's important for me to talk about it, but I want to hear what Son thinks." Regarding how to use Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who was criticized for his physical clashes with Son during the Asian Cup, Hwang said, "I can't say anything right now, and it's up to the players’ physical condition."

Son, Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, and Hwang In-beom of FK Crvena zvezda were absent from the training session as they arrived in Korea at 3 p.m. Other footballers playing in European leagues, including Lee Kang-in and Cho Kyu-sung of FC Midtjylland, will arrive on the 19th.