Players including national soccer team captain Son Heung-min returned home to cheers from fans.
Nine players including Son Heung-min arrived through Incheon International Airport on the 1st. Starting at 2 a.m., about 50 fans waited for the players.
When Son Heung-min, Eom Ji-sung, Kim Seung-gyu and Song Bum-keun appeared at the arrivals hall, fans shouted, "You worked hard," "Don't bow your heads," and more. The players left the arrivals hall without much to say.
When reporters asked Son Heung-min if he had a message for fans, he said, "I'm sorry."
The mood was different from when coach Hong Myung-bo and others arrived the day before. While fans had held Hong responsible for Korea's failure to reach the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America and shouted "Get out" at him, they offered words of comfort to the players on this day.