The baseball team returned home after suffering three consecutive rounds of elimination at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
The national team led by coach Lee Kang-cheol left Narita International Airport in Japan on the afternoon of the 14th and arrived at Incheon International Airport around 5:00 pm.
The national team set the goal of advancing to the semifinals for the first time in 14 years since 2009, but it ended up disappointing.
After being caught by Australia, who was considered to be one step below, he bowed his head in a crushing defeat by Japan, the ‘old enemy’.메이저놀이터
They beat the Czech Republic in the third game and won their first win belatedly, but it was too late. As Australia, which competed for second place, defeated the Czech Republic, Korea could not advance to the second round (quarterfinals) regardless of the result of the final match against China.
Faced with shocking results, Korea immediately boarded a plane to return home after the match against China.
Usually, when athletes return to Korea after completing international competitions such as the World Cup or Olympics, the airport is crowded with many people. When a good result was produced, the airport was filled with cheers, and in the opposite case, booing poured out.
For instance, right after the 2014/2018 World Cup, when the soccer team failed to advance to the round of 16, there were cases where many anti-fans gathered and threw taffy and eggs at the team’s return home.
In light of this, it was expected that some amount of booing would be poured out even at the return home of the baseball team, which had performed poorly in this tournament.
However, the airport was quiet until just before the arrival of the players. Not many people gathered until the plane with the athletes boarded arrived at Incheon International Airport.
As the reporters gathered to tell the story of the players’ return home, people passing through the airport snooped around wondering who was coming, and only a few KBO league fans waited quietly for the players, but there was no riotous atmosphere.
Around 5:30, the players showed up one by one. The players all hurriedly left the airport with their heads bowed and firm faces.
Meanwhile, the KBO League players who came to Korea immediately join their teams and prepare for the season. The KBO League started demonstration games the day before (13th), and the new season will open on April 1st.
Ha-seong Kim (San Diego Padres) and Tommy Hyun-soo Edman (St. Louis Cardinals), who were the only major leaguers in the national team, went straight to the United States without going through Korea.