South Korea head coach Shin Tae-Yong admitted to using some devious counter-tactics to deal with a representative of Swedish soccer trying to watch their training — he had his players switch jersey numbers because he figured that the Swedes couldn’t tell his players’ faces apart. This is real. In a news conference before the match, Shin Tae-Yong spoke out about the reports that a Swedish scout had rented a home near the South Korea training ground, something Sweden’s coach Janne Andersson later apologized for. From Reuters: In any case, [Shin Tae-Yong] 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. According to the ITV broadcast of the match on Monday, the concern over spies was what caused South Korea to play a pre-World Cup friendly against Senegal behind closed doors in a small, remote stadium in Austria. (We were wondering before the World Cup why we couldn’t find any footage of the game ... now we know.) The best part is that Sweden’s scout still watched the game and training ... using a telescope atop a nearby mountain. Again, from Reuters: 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. Let no one say the World Cup isn’t the best tournament in the world. Let no one say that.<doc-sep>During its training for the World Cup, South Korea's national soccer team tried to outsmart a Swedish spy by switching jerseys because—according to the team's coach—"it's very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians." The Swedish spy admitted to his actions on Sunday, revealing that he had first posed as a tourist to document information about the team, prior to his country's opening match against the Asian competitors on Monday. Lars Jacobsson, a member of Sweden's coaching team, initially tried to approach the team's training base directly. But the team quickly grew suspicious and turned him away. He then found a house on an overlooking mountain, from which he could photograph the team's training through a telescope. "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," Jacobsson said, according to Reuters. Aware of Sweden's espionage efforts, South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong decided to have his players switch their jerseys to confuse Jacobson. "We switched them around because we didn't want to show our opponents everything and to try and confuse them," Shin said. He said Jacobson might still have been able to recognize a few players, but said "it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians." Sweden's head coach Janne Andersson apologized for the move, saying it wasn't intended to show any disrespect. "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, Business Insider reported. At the same time, Andersson defended his actions, explaining that its normal to watch opponents play. "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," the Swedish coach said, according to Reuters. For his part, Shin said he understood Sweden's efforts, saying it's "perfectly natural" to try and get all the information on an opponent possible. "All coaches probably feel their opponents are always spying on them," he said. Despite South Korea's efforts to hide its strategies, the team lost its first World Cup match to Sweden on Monday, 1-0. Next up, the South Korean team plays Mexico on Sunday. In an upset, Mexico defeated defending world champions Germany on Sunday, 1-0. Before the Monday match, FIFA ranked South Korea 57th globally, and Sweden takes 24th slot.<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>
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.