From Son-Lee clash to World Cup collapse, can Moreno get Warriors fighting fit?
A lack of camaraderie — and even a tinge of hostility — paired with a languid mentality brought Korean football to its lowest point in years. Can an interim gaffer fix that?
Korean footballers Son Heung-min, right, and Lee Kang-in train at the national team’s base camp at Chivas Valle Verde near Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 28.NEWS1
Korean football is coming off one of its most demoralizing summers since rising to the top of the sport in Asia. However, the dismal World Cup result — failing to make the knockout round — was a by-product of a bigger issue: a loss of camaraderie and fighting spirit among the players.
What happened in 2024?
Reports emerged that Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in had a dispute during the 2024 AFC Asian Cup, where Son wanted the teammates to bond over dinner, but Lee and some of the younger players wanted to go play table tennis instead. There were reports of a physical altercation between the two. Lee later apologized to Son, which the former captain accepted via a post on social media.
Tensions hit an inflection point back in 2024, when talisman Son Heung-min and key playmaker Lee Kang-in clashed after Lee left a team dinner early to play table tennis instead of focusing on bonding.
The incident exposed cracks in then-manager Jürgen Klinsmann’s leadership, which culminated in his sacking after the tournament. Son and Lee later apologized and reconciled, or so the reports say, but Korea’s dismal performance at the recent FIFA World Cup 2026 showed that the national team is still very much a work in progress.
Now, interim manager Robert Moreno of Spain faces his first major challenge: defining the roles of Son and Lee, the two biggest stars of a squad in the middle of a generational transition.
Former manager Hong Myung-bo raised the possibility of moving away from a team built around Son shortly after taking charge.
“I may change the captain, or I may not,” he said at the time.
Hong backed away from the idea after it backfired. Son kept the captain’s armband but struggled to become a unifying force at the heart of the national team.
Lee, the Taeguk Warriors' elite playmaker, and Son, a former Premier League Golden Boot winner, failed to combine for a single goal at the World Cup. That apparent lack of chemistry weighed on Korea's ability to find the net, sending the side crashing out and Hong stepping down.
During the tournament, Son was taken off early in both the 2-1 win over the Czech Republic and the 1-0 loss to Mexico before being left out of the starting lineup entirely for the 1-0 defeat to South Africa.
The disconnect was just as apparent off the pitch. When captain Son became embroiled in a dispute with the press corps, the squad failed to rally around him in support.
Despite another change in manager, Son and Lee remain at the center of Korea’s plans.
Korean national football team interim manager Robert Moreno speaks with reporters after arriving at Incheon International Airport on Sept. 13.KIM KYOUNG-ROK
Questions persist over whether age is beginning to catch up with now 34-year-old Son. Yet no younger player has emerged as an obvious successor. Son has seven goals and 19 assists across all competitions for MLS side Los Angeles FC this season. His 12 assists in MLS rank second only to the 13 recorded by Lionel Messi of Inter Miami.
Lee faces a different challenge at Atlético Madrid, which he joined over the summer. His immediate priority is to secure more playing time. Lee has started regularly but has repeatedly been substituted early in the second half rather than playing the full 90 minutes.
For Korea, however, Lee has already established himself as the focal point of the attack. He will need to take another step forward if he is to join the lineage of Korean football icons that runs from Cha Bum-kun to Park Ji-sung and now Son.
Moreno also has another task on his hands: reigniting the fighting spirit that has long defined Korean football.
Fans were left frustrated after the Taeguk Warriors seemingly lost their intensity late in their World Cup group-stage defeat to South Africa.
Korean men's national football team interim manager Robert Moreno waves after arriving at Incheon International Airport on Sept. 13.KIM KYOUNG-ROK
Moreno addressed the issue as soon as he arrived at Incheon International Airport with five members of his coaching staff on Sunday.
“I will bring the national team players together,” Moreno said. “I will make the Korean people proud of the team again.”
Moreno will lead Korea on an interim basis for six international matches from September through November. His contract could be extended depending on the results.
“Since I was appointed, I have analyzed Korea’s international matches every day,” Moreno said. “The World Cup result was sad, but now we have to look ahead and move forward.”
Korea will play its first match under Moreno against Ecuador in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Thursday. It will then face Uruguay in Seoul on Sept. 28, Venezuela in Ulsan on Oct. 2 and Uzbekistan in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 6.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
