Bonfrere Shakes His Head

“Still a long way to go,” said Johannes Bonfrere (58), who had his debut game as the head of the Korean national soccer team in a friendly match against Bahrain, on July 10. Korea overwhelmed Bahrain and won 2-0, but his expression did not look happy.

Bonfrere expressed his discontent, saying, “The concentration of the players plunged after they scored from the right in the beginning of the game. In particular, the accuracy of passes, which I emphasized during training, was low.”

Most coaches would smile if they won a game that was held ten days after they took control. However, Bonfrere was not smiling at all. On the contrary, his wry face would not light up. Such actions remind us of former coach Guus Hiddink, who beat Portugal and put the Korean team in the elimination round and said, “I’m still hungry.”

“The greatest problem of today’s game was the inaccuracy of the passes. The passes made to the front were not accurate, so our attacks were not smooth, giving chances for the opposing defense to make counterattacks.”

Bonfrere added, “I emphasized the importance of cooperative play, where players without the ball also move endlessly, but maybe the training period was short, so we had many problems in this area.”

On the other hand, Shin Moon-sun, commentator for SBS, gave a positive review, saying, “Bonfrere’s soccer style is total soccer that focuses on speed and attack. When compared with former coach Humberto Coelho, the players followed orders well and kept concentrated.”

On Lee Dong-kook, who led the attack with an early goal, Bonfrere appraised him, saying, “He has worked hard since training and gave a positive influence on the team by scoring the first goal. I think he is a menacing striker,” but reserved final judgment, saying, “However, among other problems, he has missed many goal opportunities so I will have to keep watching.” In other words, Lee still lacks the qualities to become the “Crown Prince of Bonfrere’s flagship.”

In July 10’s friendly match against Bahrain, held in Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Lee Dong-kook scored the first goal with a volley kick two minutes after the game started, and defender Choi Jin-chul, who joined the attack, scored the next goal with a header in the 41st minute of the first half.

Korea will play a friendly match with Trinidad and Tobago on July 14 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Bonfrere commented, “Trinidad and Tobago has a different style from Bahrain, so you will see a new face of the national team.”

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com