Korean football, which has advanced to the World Cup round of 16 after 12 years in Qatar, is now heading for the ‘Post Bento Era’.
Naturally, attention is focused on who will be the next command tower. In the soccer world, even before the opening of the World Cup finals in Qatar, there was talk of a new head coach. Just as coach Paulo Bento said, “I already made a decision in September (to say goodbye to Korea)” when talking about his future after the World Cup, the Korea Football Association (KFA) also realized that it had to start appointing a new head coach after the Qatar tournament. I was aware
It is said that the views of the two sides diverged in terms of the contract period over this, but in fact, it is known that Bento also considered it better to stamp a four-year journey with Korea and take on a new challenge, unless it is under ‘very special conditions’. As a result, with Korea reaching the round of 16, his value soared, and he had more options in his future leadership career.
Only the KFA decision remained. In some places, the name of the candidate for the next command tower was specifically mentioned. Then, on the 10th, KFA said, “We express serious concerns about the reckless and speculative reports of some media outlets regarding the appointment of a new national team coach.” We did not even hold the first meeting, and we are in the process of preparing for discussion.”
According to the coverage of this magazine, it is true that a high-ranking official from the association consulted behind the scenes with a soccer player who could be put as a candidate for the next head coach. However, as in the KFA position, there has been no discussion at the National Team Strengthening Committee, which is an ‘official’ 토토 supervisory appointment body. It is natural for the association’s high-ranking officials to contact a leader they consider a candidate, as they aim to appoint a command tower before the A-match in March next year.
What has been drawn so far is that the task of confirming domestic leaders is done before foreigners who have to undergo various conditions and verification. It is also a factor that Japan has succeeded in advancing to the round of 16 with a guidance method that matches the global soccer trend by appointing its own leaders for the second consecutive time, following the 2018 Russian tournament and this Qatar. Foreign leaders can be quick to transplant advanced soccer and discover players without prejudice, but there are also voices from experts who say that domestic leaders are more and more compatible with modern soccer culture. In addition, there are an increasing number of leaders who can inherit and develop the color of the rear build-up that ‘Bentuho’ successfully performed in the World Cup.
Whether it is a domestic leader or a foreign leader, what is considered a prerequisite is a ‘four-year guarantee’. For the first time in the history of Korean soccer, ‘Bentoho’ succeeded in the World Cup by completing a 4-year contract, and the 4-year guarantee has become important for the next command tower. Previously, Korean soccer was busy changing the atmosphere by ‘injecting firefighters’ when fans criticized it for failing to achieve the desired results in major competitions between World Cups such as the Asian Cup. Coach Bento also suffered a crisis in early 2019 when he was eliminated from the Asian Cup quarterfinals and lost 0-3 against Korea and Japan twice.
If the current world cup is successful, there is a possibility that the next coach will face a crisis of hardship if he does not perform well in the Asian Cup, another major tournament scheduled for the second half of next year. Then, it is difficult to have a long-term vision and come up with your own color. It is also the same as Bento’s rejection of the ‘1+3 year contract’ in the process of negotiating a renewal contract with KFA in the first place. In any case, it takes time to further develop the past model. It is important not only to evaluate the success or failure of the World Cup, but also the meaningful incorrect answer notes that Korean soccer will get through the four-year run as a system.
Meanwhile, KFA announced on the 12th that Chairman Chung Mong-gyu decided to donate an additional 2 billion won in reward money for the World Cup team. The 2 billion won will be equally distributed among the 26 players who participated in the World Cup. According to the decision of the KFA board of directors in May this year, Taegeuk Warriors are to receive 210 million to 270 million won per person, including rewards based on World Cup results and contributions after passing the Asian final qualifiers. Thanks to Chung’s donation, each person received an additional 77 million won.