Park Ji-sung fears South Korea are repeating World Cup mistakes of the past after Bafana Bafana loss

South Korea's 1-0 defeat to South Africa on Wednesday left serious questions over the team's direction, with Park suggesting the side has failed to show enough attacking identity throughout the competition.

Despite still holding an outside chance of progressing to the Round of 32 as one of the best third-placed teams, the former international admitted he has little confidence that the current squad can become genuine contenders.

Speaking during television commentary and quoted by Reuters, Park questioned whether South Korea approached the match with enough ambition.

"We need to reflect on whether this was overall a game we tried to win," he said, as quoted by Reuters.

"There was no visible plan for how to attack. This problem has been the same throughout this World Cup. It seems there were clearly some areas that were neglected during the preparation process."

The criticism comes after South Korea opened their campaign with a promising 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic before suffering back-to-back defeats against Mexico and South Africa, failing to score in either match.

For Park, those struggles brought back memories of the 2014 World Cup — a tournament that ended in disappointment after South Korea exited in the group stage with one draw and two defeats.

"We had plenty of time to reflect on what went wrong at the 2014 World Cup," Park added.
"But this time again, the preparation process and the results look like a repeat of that time."

Park, who helped inspire South Korea's historic run to the semi-finals on home soil in 2002, warned that qualification alone would not solve deeper concerns around the team's performances.

"Even if the possibility of reaching the round of 32 still remains, I am not confident that we can show a good performance on that stage with the current level of play."