Lee Sang-min After South Africa Loss: "Even I, Who Cannot Play Football, Found It Hard to Watch"

Lee Sang-min, a broadcaster and former member of the mixed-gender group Roo'ra, expressed his frustration after watching the World Cup match between the South Korean national team and South Africa on June 25.

On Instagram that day, Lee wrote, "Even I, who truly cannot play football, found today's match hard to watch. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for all of you." He then weighed the possible scenarios for South Korea to advance to the round of 32.

As he considered the conditions under which the South Korean football team could move on, Lee conveyed his pent-up mood by writing, "Until all of these results come out, let us all stay frozen. Somebody please say 'ttaeng' for us." The remark captured the sense of being stuck in place while waiting for the remaining outcomes to decide South Korea's fate.

At 10 a.m. Korean time on June 25, South Korea faced South Africa in the third Group A match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico. The national team lost 1-0 and finished third in the group.

Lee Sang-min, born in 1973, debuted in 1994 as a member of the mixed-gender group Roo'ra. In 2004, he married actress and painter Lee Hye-young, but the couple divorced after one year. In April last year, he remarried a non-celebrity who is 10 years younger than him.