South Korean national football team coach Uli Stielike says that the players have already been warned about the prospect of complacency in the upcoming game against Laos.
This will be the final World Cup qualifying match for the national team in 2015. South Korea are overwhelming favourites to get a win due to the impressive stature in world football. After having appeared in several world cups and done well, South Korea are ranked 48 in the FIFA world rankings. This is well ahead of Laos, who are 176th in world football. However,Stielike says that any team can cause an upset if the opposition are complacent.
The complacency may come as a result of the impressive winning run that South Korea have enjoyed since the appointment of the new manager. South Korea have won the last five matches without conceding any goal. Laos have been poor in terms of results as they have suffered five defeats and managed just one draw in their group matches so far. Despite this, Stielike remains wary of the threat from the opposition. The remaining World Cup qualifiers are against the likes of Lebanon and Kuwait at the start of 2016. Korea are already in great position to reach the finals once again.
“Laos has conceded lot of goals away, but at home it didn’t allow more than three goals. Players should get rid of thoughts that they are going to get an easy win. We will play with the mindset to collect a win. After all, it’s a challenge against ourselves,” said the manager on Monday. The manager recently turned 61 and the national team will be able to benefit immensely from the experience of the German. He has already been in charge of several national teams like Switzerland in the past. His more recent work has been in Middle East football.