Hong Myung-bo (55), who took charge of the national soccer team for the first time in 10 years, expressed confidence ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup North and Central America Asia 3rd qualifying round, saying, “The biggest difference from 10 years ago is the experience of leading the national team. This will be of great help in managing the national team going forward.”
In an interview with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on the 2nd, Coach Hong said, “Being the national team coach is a very difficult but honorable position. I am grateful to be given this job again,” and “My previous experience with the national team left me with great regret, but I will do my best for the development of Korean football through this opportunity.”
The Korea Football Association (KFA) fired coach Jurgen Klinsmann in February and appointed Hong, who led Ulsan HD to two consecutive K League 1 championships in 2022 and 2023, as his successor after about five months of internal strife.
For Coach Hong, it was his first return to the national team in 10 years. After winning the bronze medal for the first time in Korean soccer at the 2012 London Olympics, he took charge of the national team as coach Choi Kang-hee’s successor in June 2013. However, he experienced failure in the 2014 Brazil World Cup, where the controversy over “loyalty soccer” arose, with the team being eliminated in the group stage with 1 draw and 2 losses, and eventually resigned before completing the contract period.
After that, he left the field for a while as an executive director of the Korea Football Association, returned to command Ulsan in 2021, and three years later, he took charge of the Taegeuk Warriors again.
Coach Hong said, “During the 2014 Brazil World Cup, I lacked understanding of Korean football and K-League players. While serving as the executive director of the Korea Football Association, I filled in that gap, and it was a very valuable experience for my football career. When I returned to the field and took over as Ulsan manager, I was able to understand the players much better.”
He added, “The biggest difference from 10 years ago is that I have experience as a national team coach. This will be of great help in managing the national team in the future.”
Coach Hong is confident of success in the second World Cup, which will be held in North and Central America.
As the North and Central American World Cup expanded to 48 countries, the top two teams in each group in the third round of Asian qualifiers will automatically advance to the finals. Korea will compete with Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, and Kuwait in Group B of the third round of qualifiers.
Hong Myung-bo will begin training at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province on this day. On the first day of training, 19 players including Lee Jae-seong (Mainz) and Um Ji-seong (Swansea City) will participate, and 7 European players including Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton) will sequentially join the national team.
Korea will play the first match of the third round of World Cup qualifiers against Palestine at 8 p.m. on the 5th at Seoul World Cup Stadium. This will be Coach Hong Myung-bo’s return to the A-match stage after 10 years. Afterwards, they will travel to Oman and play the second match against Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat at 11 p.m. (Korean time) on the 10th.
Coach Hong said, “The most important goal is to advance to the North and Central American World Cup finals. We are preparing for the third round of qualifiers, but we must first operate the national team with stability.”
He emphasized, “The fact that we have advanced to the World Cup finals for 10 consecutive times gives our players great confidence, but we must not forget that it is only a record of the past. The third qualifying round, where the right to advance to the World Cup finals is at stake, is important for the results. We will prepare thoroughly for the third qualifying round with a sense of tension.”
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-09-02 05:14:19