Sweden have apologised for spying on the South Korea squad at a pre-World Cup training camp. South Korea, who play Sweden on Monday, said they had responded by swapping players’ numbers to confuse the Swedish snooper because – in the words of their manager, Shin Tae-yong – “it’s very difficult for westerners to distinguish between Asians”. The Sweden manager, Janne Andersson, offered his apology for the incident at the training camp in Austria, where a member of the Sweden coaching staff got into a closed training session and was told to leave. The Swede thought the training session was open, Andersson said, and left when asked. “He watched from more of a distance as a result,” Andersson said but did not comment on allegations that the individual in question, Lars Jacobsson, had rented a house across the road from South Korea’s training ground. Jacobsson was quoted as saying: “It took a long car journey into the mountains to reach the house but it was a perfect spot to observe the Korean team’s training.” Andersson said: “It’s very important we show respect for opponents, always and in every way. If it has been perceived in another way, we apologise.” Shin said such analysis of opponents was the norm and had a ruse of his own, making his players use different shirt numbers. World Cup Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email “We switched them around because we didn’t want to show everything and to try to confuse them,” he said. “They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for westerners to distinguish between Asians and that’s why we did it. “All coaches probably feel their opponents are always spying on them. I think it’s perfectly natural that we all try to get as much information on each other as we can.”<doc-sep>South Korea's World Cup team responded to a Swedish spy for Sweden's team by swapping their jerseys so it would be harder to tell them apart. Taeguk Warriors coach Shin Tae-yong told reporters Sunday "it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians." The Swedish spy, who is a member of Sweden's coaching staff, said he later set up a telescope and spied on the team from a local couple's home. Sweden apologized for the incident, but South Korea said it was "perfectly natural" for teams to gather information on one another. South Korea's World Cup team responded to spying by the Swedish team by swapping their jerseys so that Sweden couldn't tell them apart. Taeguk Warriors coach Shin Tae-yong told reporters Sunday that his team swapped around their numbers after a member of Sweden's coaching staff was caught trying to spy on their closed training session in Austria earlier this month. "We switched them around because we didn't want to show our opponents everything and to try and confuse them," said Shin. "They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians," he added. The Swedish spy first tried to gain intel on the South Koreans by approaching the team's training base and posing as a tourist, although his plan was quickly foiled. He later convinced a local couple who lived near the camp to let him use their house and set up a high performance telescope and video camera. "It took a long car journey up the mountains to reach the house, but it was a perfect spot to observe the Korean team’s training," Lars Jacobsson, the Swedish spy, said Sunday according to Reuters. Sweden's coach Janne Andersson has apologized, saying that Sweden analyzes every opponent before a match, but they may have crossed a line. "It’s very important that we show respect for opponents, always and in every way. If it has been perceived in another way, we apologize," he said. Still, South Korea seemed unfazed by the incident. "All coaches probably feel their opponents are always spying on them," Shin said. "I think it’s perfectly natural that we all try to get as much information on each other as we can." In recent matches between Bolivia and Senegal, only two Korean players wore their usual numbers, Shin added. South Korea and Sweden face off on Monday at 3 p.m. local time.<doc-sep>South Korea’s manager made his players wear different shirts in pre-World Cup friendlies to confuse 'Swedish spies'. Shin Tae-yong devised the clever plan ahead of South Korea's high-pressure World Cup opening game against Sweden on Monday. "We switched them around because we didn't want to show our opponents everything and try to confuse them," Shin Tae-yong told a press conference in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. "They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians and that's why we did that. Shin Tae-yong devised a clever plan to put off opponents during the World Cup "All coaches probably feel their opponents are always spying on them. "I think it's perfectly natural that we all try to get as much information on each other as we can." The hugely anticipated opening game is set to be a crucial one, as both teams prepare to face tougher matches in their group against Mexico and Germany. World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Show all 10 1 /10 World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Mesut Ozil (Germany) Age: 29 Club: Arsenal Position: Playmaker AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Manuel Neuer (Germany) Age: 32 Club: Bayern Munich Position: Goalkeeper Bongarts/Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Timo Werner (Germany) Age: 22 Club: RB Leipzig Position: Forward Bongarts/Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Emil Forsberg (Sweden) Age: 26 Club: RB Leipzig Position: Midfielder Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Sebastian Larsson (Sweden) Age: 33 Club: Hull City Position: Midfielder AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Emil Krafth (Sweden) Age: 23 Club: Bologna Position: Defender Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Giovani dos Santos (Mexico) Age: 29 Club: LA Galaxy Position: Forward Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Andres Guardado (Mexico) Age: 31 Club: Real Betis Position: Midfielder Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Heung-min Son (South Korea) Age: 25 Club: Tottenham Hotspur Position: Forward AFP/Getty Images World Cup 2018: 10 players to watch in Group F Park Joo-ho (South Korea) Age: 31 Club: Ulsan Hyundai FC Position: Defender AFP/Getty Images Tottenham striker Son Heung-min and captain Ki Sung-yeung were the only players who wore their usual shirts against Bolivia and Senegal earlier this month, Tae-young added. Tae-young's unusual admission comes after he received reports of a 'Swedish spy' sniffing around South Korea's training sessions. Sweden coach Lars Jacobsson reportedly persuaded a local couple to let him use their phone near the training base to conduct surveillance with a high-performance telescope and video camera. "It took a long car journey up the mountains to reach the house, but it was a perfect spot to observe the Korean team's training," he said, according to Reuters. But the coach was later forced to apologise on Sunday and claimed his scout had misunderstood. “He heard about a practice session, he didn’t understand that it was a closed session, he didn’t understand and he watched from a distance,” said Andersson. “It’s very important we show respect to all our opponents in all circumstances. If someone could interpret it in another way, we regret it. “It’s been made a mountain out of a molehill.”<doc-sep>South Korea’s football coach has revealed he used an unusual tactic to outfox opponents in the run-up to high stakes World Cup games in Russia - swapping players jersey numbers to sow confusion about their identities. “I heard that Western people don’t recognise Asian people’s faces at once, so that was my little trick to confuse the opponents,” Shin Tae-yong told a press conference in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, ahead of South Korea’s high pressure World Cup opening game against Sweden on Monday evening. Today’s opener is crucial for both teams, who face tougher matches later in their group against Mexico and Germany, and both have deployed creative tactics to get an edge over each other to win. Mr Shin’s strategy appears to have been in response to a Swedish spy operation at South Korea’s pre-World Cup training camp in Austria earlier this month, when a member of Sweden’s coaching staff attempted to observe their team sessions. Lars Jacobsson reportedly persuaded a local couple to let him use their house near the training base to conduct surveillance with a high performance telescope and video camera. “It took a long car journey up the mountains to reach the house, but it was a perfect spot to observe the Korean team’s training,” he said, according to Reuters.<doc-sep>
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (Reuters) - South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong on Sunday shrugged off spying by World Cup opponents Sweden, who apologized on the eve of their Group F clash after initially trumpeting their subterfuge. Soccer Football - World Cup - South Korea Training - Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia - June 17, 2018 South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong speaks with players during training REUTERS/Carlos Barria The teams begin their campaigns on Monday and have been creative in trying to study each other’s tactics in the build-up to the Group F match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. A Swedish scout used a house near Korea’s training base in Austria this month to watch training sessions using a high performance telescope and video camera. “It took a long car journey up the mountains to reach the house, but it was a perfect spot to observe the Korean team’s training,” Lars Jacobsson, a member of the Swedish coaching staff, said on Sunday. He had earlier been kicked out of a closed training session, after failing to convince the Koreans he was a passing tourist, and persuaded a local couple to let him use their house, overlooking the training facility, to watch their rivals working on their World Cup routines. Coach Janne Andersson on Sunday tendered an apology. “It is very important we show respect for an opponent and if what we did has been perceived in another way, then we apologize,” Andersson said. “This is something small that has been turned into something much bigger because usually our information about our opponents comes from us watching them play matches.” It was all no matter to the Koreans, insisted Shin, who said such in-depth analysis of opponents was now the international norm. In any case, he had a ruse of his own to outfox the Swedes, making his players use different jersey numbers. “We switched them around because we didn’t want to show our opponents everything and to try and confuse them. “They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians and that’s why we did that,” Shin said. “All coaches probably feel their opponents are always spying on them. I think it’s perfectly natural that we all try to get as much information on each other as we can.”