Another coach ends his position following the expulsion of his team from the 2022 World Cup, and this time it is Paulo Bento. The Portuguese coach of South Korea clarified after the loss tonight (Monday) 4:1 in the round of 16 to Brazil that he is not continuing: “This is a decision I made back in September and now I have informed the players and the president of the association about it. I am happy and proud to have coached this group for more than four years, I thanked them For everything they did. Now I’m going to rest and see what happens.”
About the game he said: “The result makes sense, the better team is the one that qualified. Brazil is one of the leading candidates to win the title. We can be proud of our journey.”
Bento, who in the past was a back midfielder in the Portugal national team (35 appearances) and also coached it between 2010 and 2014, arrived in South Korea after the 2018 World Cup and led it to 10 consecutive participation in the World Cup. He was sent off in a 3:2 loss to Ghana in the group stage, but his team achieved a dramatic 1:2 over Portugal and returned to the round of 16 after 12 years.
A recap of Brazil’s 1:4 win over South Korea courtesy of Kaan 11 – the official broadcaster of the 2022 World Cup. Live broadcasts, recaps, statistics and more await you on the Kaan World Cup page
Captain Jung Min Son concluded: “We gave everything, don’t come to us with complaints. Brazil was the clear favorite, they have great players. I don’t blame any of our players, they all gave everything and I’m proud of the team. There were young people here, this is their first World Cup, it’s not Easy. They did a great job for the team and the country.”