Broadcaster Jun Hyun-moo's first soccer commentary ended in a poor atmosphere.
On the afternoon of the 5th, KBS 2TV variety program Boss in the Mirror depicted Jun Hyun-moo attempting soccer commentary for the first time. Jun Hyun-moo covered the third group-stage match of the 2026 FIFA CONCACAF World Cup between Korea and South Africa, held on the 25th of last month in Monterrey, Mexico.
Jun Hyun-moo appeared nervous even before the match began. Even when Lee Young-pyo tried to bring snacks and supplements, he could not relax. Looking at Lee Young-pyo, Jun Hyun-moo said, "I envy your relaxed smile. I feel like a player," revealing his tension.
Lee Young-pyo encouraged him, saying, "Good commentary seems to come from a good match. If the match is good. You will see a very fresh commentary, the likes of which have never existed in the history of soccer commentary."
Jun Hyun-moo prepared for the commentary challenge for a long time. He said, "I studied hard for about a month. I looked up information on the internet and materials, and it felt like going back to the 1990s when I took the college entrance exam and studied like a test taker."
Lee Young-pyo also acknowledged Jun Hyun-moo's efforts. Looking at Jun Hyun-moo, he praised him, saying, "Actually, I was pretty worried. I saw something at the end. I felt he had worked hard for the commentary; it felt okay."
But both Jun Hyun-moo and Lee Young-pyo were flustered by a result different from expectations. After finishing preparations before the match, the two looked around the stadium and hurried to the commentary booth. With the starting lineup announced, they began preparing the commentary in earnest.
The starting lineup for the South Africa match was unexpected for Jun Hyun-moo and Lee Young-pyo. It was very different from the previous two matches. For one, the national team captain and key player Son Heung-min, as well as Lee Jae-sung, were missing.
Seeing the starting lineup, Lee Young-pyo was taken aback. He asked back, "Why did they change the players like this? Is this really right?" Jun Hyun-moo also said, "From that moment I was in a meltdown. There will be a lot of talk about Son Heung-min being omitted from the starting lineup. I think many people will be curious, so I will ask about it during the commentary."
In the end, Jun Hyun-moo's first commentary ended in defeat. As the players looked frustrated throughout the match, Lee Young-pyo fell silent, and Jun Hyun-moo tried to offer hopeful words but could not help becoming exhausted. After the match, Lee Young-pyo candidly said, "Because the match itself was bad from start to finish, if you try to explain it you can only keep saying negative things. You run out of things to say. Although I have done long commentary before, this was the hardest to analyze, the hardest to explain, even hard to understand."
He added, "The problems were so numerous you could not single one out. There was no structure and no purpose. It was a match where it was hard to determine why the players were running on the field. The match itself was the problem."
Jun Hyun-moo felt the same. In an interview with the production team after the match, Jun Hyun-moo confessed, "I think there was nothing in the commentary itself to work with. It felt very difficult at that time. I said I would do it, but it didn't go the way I wanted."
Jun Hyun-moo also added, "If we had won, I was going to say, 'let's celebrate, let's congratulate advancing to the round of 32,' and I was going to kiss Lee Young-pyo 'lip to lip.' I don't know if I will have another chance to commentate. If I get another commentary opportunity, I will wait for the day I definitely can kiss Lee Young-pyo."
[Photo] KBS 2TV broadcast screen capture.
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