South Korea have pedigree, having dumped former champions Germany out of the group stages in the 2018 World Cup. As co-hosts with Japan in 2002, they reached the semi-finals, knocking out Italy and Spain along the way.
Known for lethal counter-attacking and indomitable spirit, South Korea looked to be heading for elimination but delivered a surprise stoppage-time winner in Al Rayyan on Friday to beat Portugal and reach the last 16.
Monday’s match against injury-hit Brazil is their first in the knockout rounds since 2010 and only their third overall.
Kim said there were a few injury concerns among the South Korean squad, but the team were well prepared, capable and confident.
“Of course tomorrow (Monday) will be a very challenging match. We really want to show everyone what we’ve got and show what we’ve been waiting 12 years for,” Kim said.
“Our fighting spirit will be important and we have to sacrifice ourselves for the team.”
South Korea’s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento companied about a gap of just 72 hours between matches and said his team had physical and emotional fatigue, compared to a Brazil who had a squad with enough depth to rest players.
He said he was expecting Brazil to take the game to South Korea but was confident his players could keep them at bay.
“We’re up against world-class players, we are not intimidated,” he said. “In our squad we have world-class players.”
“One match it’s not an entire tournament, we have one chance... Most important is we show we are a team that wants to win, wants to compete and fight until the last whistle,” he said.
“Based on that, everything is a victory.”