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Cape Town - South Korea head coach Shin Tae-yong revealed he used an unusual tactic to gain an advantage over their Group G opponents Sweden ahead of a crucial World Cup clash.
READ: Mexico cause 'artificial earthquake' after upset win
Shin said he decided to swap players jersey numbers during training sessions and warm-up games to cause confusion to any Swedish spies trying to get additional information.
"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.
South Korea's creative strategy appears to be in response to be after a member of the Swedish coaching staff was caught spying on their pre-World Cup training camp in Austria.
Lars Jacobsson reportedly convinced a local couple to let him use their house near the South Korean training base to conduct surveillance.
Shin admitted that their tactics were brought into play after hearing reports of the "Swedish spy" and that he is relying on most of his squad being not so well-known worldwide.
???? coach Shin Tae-yong:
— 433 (@official433) June 17, 2018
“We put four different numbers on our players' shirts in training to confuse ???? spies.”??
“I heard Europeans can't tell our players apart by their faces."
Next level tactics ???? pic.twitter.com/MDkOfnLXYt
