New Captain for Korea National Soccer to be Selected at the Beginning of Next Month

Candidates for the next Korea Soccer National team coach have been selected. The Korea Football Association (KFA) technical committee met on May 6 and announced the candidacy of ten coaches including Bruno Metsu, former Senegal coach, Senol Gunes, former Turkey coach, Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Roger Lemerre, former France coach. A final decision is expected by the end of this month or beginning of next month at the latest.

How were they chosen?—

KFA proposed two standards for selection: one is having obtained an equal or better result than Final 16 in the World Cup, and the second is that a continent championship or club championship must have been won. The international office of KFA selected 16 coaches worldwide, and a technical committee narrowed this pool to ten coaches.

Head of the technical committee, Kim Jin-gook, stated, “We excluded six persons who were in impossible states. Also, there are some coaches who sent us data through e-mail or an agent.”

How will the final decision be made?—

KFA will hold a board meeting on May 10 to decide whether they will have confidence in the current technical committee considering the dismissal of former coach, Umberto Coelho. Around May 14, the technical committee will restrict candidates into two in the first group and two in the second group. Subsequently the committee will interview them according to prior decisions and confirm the new coach by the beginning of next month at the latest. The standards for evaluation are the ability to carry the team and the capacity to collect knowledge and information about the trends of world soccer.

Kim Jin-gook, head of technical committee, said, “These 10 guys have been chosen as a possible coach for the Korea team through direct and indirect routes. We will have an interview session for our four strongest candidates.”

Responses of soccer men?—

A member of technical committee, Kwon O-son, remarked, “The favorite is Metsu. He has showed his leadership in El Ain Club and the World Cup. KFA also thinks positively of him because of his charisma and obvious outputs.”

KBS commentator and professor at Sejong University, Lee Yong-soo, said, “All 10 candidates are capable coaches, but a problem lies after the selection. The thing is how much they are aware of Korea Soccer and KFA. I don’t believe that current Portugal Coach Scolari is included on that list.”

SBS commentator, Shin Moon-seon criticized KFA, “KFA is making the same mistake. It is kind of weird that members of the committee put coach lists, delivered by the International Office, on candidates without any direct contact. The majority of the members of this committee are responsible for the failure of the Coelho term.”

Jong-Koo Yang Sung-Kyu Kim yjongk@donga.com kimsk@donga.com