Korean Cheerleaders Go Viral on Mexican Media

Broadcasters Jun Hyun-moo and Yang Se-chan garnered attention from Mexican media at the CONCACAF World Cup. ESPN Mexico's X (formerly Twitter) account posted a video of Korean fans with the caption, "Koreans excited for Mexico! The party is a universal language." The video showed Koreans in red cheering attire chanting "Corea!" and it was revealed that the individuals were Jun Hyun-moo and Yang Se-chan, drawing interest from domestic netizens. Local spectators responded to their passionate display by filming them with their phones.

Jun Hyun-moo and Yang Se-chan watched the first match of the CONCACAF World Cup Group A preliminary round held at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico. Their appearance, along with other stars like Kwon Eun-bi, aespa's Karina, and Winter, was captured by the match broadcast cameras, becoming a topic of discussion. Jun Hyun-moo's presence in the stands had sparked curiosity due to his planned participation in KBS's World Cup broadcast team. However, he is only scheduled to conduct live commentary with analyst Lee Young-pyo for the third group stage match against South Africa, which will also serve as filming for JTBC's "Talkpawon 25시." The South Korean national team is set to play Mexico on the 19th and South Africa on the 25th.

When South Korea defeated Czech Republic 2-1, Mexican media outlets interpreted it as a 'warning.' Mexico's largest daily newspaper, El Universal, published an article titled "Korea Defeats Czech Republic, Sending a Warning to Mexico," emphasizing that the June 18th match between South Korea and Mexico would be the de facto decider for the top spot in the group. Mexican media outlets such as El Universal, Record, and Mediotiempo expressed caution, referring to South Korea as the "Asian Tiger." El Universal reported, "Led by key player Hwang In-beom, South Korea has already set its sights on its next opponent, Mexico."

Regarding the flow of the South Korea-Czech Republic match, Mexican media explained, "In the first half, neither team took risks, drawing jeers from the crowd, but the second half was completely different." They reported that Hwang In-beom responded to Czech Republic's opening goal with an equalizer, and Oh Hyun-gyu scored the winning goal, heating up the stadium. Sports newspaper 'Record' reported that the roar of the Korean cheering squad gathered at Akron Stadium that day was similar to the "Dae~han Minguk!" chant that became popular during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. They also added that with every successful pass from South Korea, Mexican and Korean fans alike chanted "Corea, Corea!" and "Olé," deepening the bond between the fans of both nations.

Mexico faces uncertainty ahead of their match against South Korea due to a player's red card in their first game against South Africa. According to Mediotiempo and SDPnoticias, coach Aguirre expressed strong dissatisfaction with the expulsion of captain César Montes, who will be unable to play against South Korea. Edson Álvarez is expected to start as a center-back. Coach Aguirre emphasized, "Our priority right now is not the group lead, but thinking about South Korea." Meanwhile, Colombian media outlet Semana separately mentioned that videos of Son Heung-min missing three consecutive clear chances had become a trending topic on social media.