South Korea have never won two consecutive games in the group stage, and they have never won the second game in any of their World Cup campaigns.
Mr Ross Davis, who has covered the K-League over the years, said that the match with Mexico will be pretty much “50-50”.
“Mexico showed against South Africa what a good team that they can be. The way they scored their goals as well, pressing high and winning the ball up high – that was impressive,” he said.
“Two well-coached, very capable teams, certainly the two best teams in the group.”
To beat Mexico, South Korea will also need to deal with what is likely to be a raucous atmosphere.
“The atmosphere (in the Mexico South Africa match) was really crazy,” said Mr Jeong Daweo, a reporter from Sports Seoul who was at the stadium.
“Players must overcome the Mexico fans. South African players were very scared.”
South Korea came back from behind in their opening Group A match to beat the Czech Republic. A Ladislav Krejci header put the Czechs ahead, before goals from Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu gave Hong Myung-bo’s men three points.
The Asian side drew praise for their attractive attacking style of play, with Hwang and PSG midfielder Lee Kang-in particularly impressive.
“They played very well, and they stuck to their principles, and maybe even played better than they have done in quite a long time,” said Mr Davis, who called the win a “massive confidence booster”.
“Ultimately, the way they reacted to conceding was probably the most impressive part for me.”
Mr Han, who is covering South Korea for FIFA.com, praised the team for playing “tournament football” and being more direct, quicker, or more defensive when the situation required them to.
“If you want to survive in a tournament, that’s what you want to be able to do. And the fact that they were able to add that to their game, that’s what makes it really impressive.”
