Coach Hong Myung-bo to lead national soccer team until 2027 Asian Cup

by times news cr

2024-07-09 05:28:07

Guaranteed tenure until after the World Cup in North and Central America
He is likely to move to the position of national team coach within this month.
Two European coaches also joined to improve tactics

The Korea Football Association chose Hong Myung-bo as the right person to lead the Korean national football team, which has been struggling since former coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Federation

Coach Hong Myung-bo (55), who is taking charge of the national soccer team again after 10 years since the 2014 Brazil World Cup, will serve until the Asian Cup in January 2027. The timing of Coach Hong leaving his team Ulsan to take charge of the national team has not been decided yet, but it is known that it will not be later than July.

Lee Im-saeng, the executive director of the Korea Football Association’s Technical Headquarters who was in charge of the final stages of selecting the head coach of the national soccer team, held a press conference at the Korea Football Association Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 8th and announced, “Coach Hong’s contract period is until the Asian Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia in January 2027.” The reason Coach Hong’s term was guaranteed until after the 2026 North and Central American World Cups to be held in June-July is to give him time to establish a soccer philosophy by linking the senior national team with the age-group teams.

The timing of when Coach Hong will officially begin his schedule as the national team manager will be decided through discussion between the Korea Football Association and Ulsan Club. The Korea Football Association is willing to listen to the opinions of Ulsan Club, which understands Coach Hong’s move to the national team during the peak season of the professional soccer K League 1. However, since the national team’s first match in the third round of the Asian qualifying round for the North and Central American World Cup is scheduled for September 5, it is difficult to see it going beyond July.

The national team led by Coach Hong will be joined by a European coach. Director Lee said, “In order to supplement the tactical aspect, I suggested to Coach Hong that at least two European coaches join, and Coach Hong accepted.” During the 2014 Brazil World Cup, Hong Myung-bo’s team had foreign coaches such as Dutch power analysis coach Ton Du Hattinir and Japanese physical coach Seigo Ikeda. Coach Ikeda is currently assisting Coach Hong in Ulsan.

Regarding the terms of Coach Hong’s contract, the director said, “I can’t reveal the annual salary, but now Korean coaches should be treated just like foreign coaches.” Former national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired in February, is known to have had an annual salary of 3 billion won, and former coach Paulo Bento, who led the national team in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, had an annual salary of around 1.94 billion won. When Coach Hong renewed his contract with Ulsan for three years last year, he signed a contract worth 1 billion won, the highest salary ever for a Korean coach in the K-League.


Reporter Jeong Yun-cheol [email protected]

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2024-07-09 05:28:07

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