Let the speculation begin
Hong Myung-bo
Senol Gunes
Hong seen as the front-runner as Korea begins coach search
By Kim Tong-hyung
If Choi Kang-hee was trying to create enthusiasm for a new era in Korean football, he definitely made his work into an art. And Korea’s hapless 1-0 loss to Iran at home in its final World Cup qualifier Tuesday was bad enough to be his Guernica.
Despite the defeat, which put Choi out of his misery as national team manager, Korea managed to stumble into the World Cup finals in Brazil next year, edging Uzbekistan by a single point in goal differential.
The Group A runner-up will be making its eighth consecutive appearance in the planet’s biggest sporting event, joining group leaders Iran, rewarded its fifth berth in the tournament.
The Uzbeks could only blame themselves for failing to defeat Qatar by five goals instead of four. Or maybe the Koreans should be credited for avoiding a defeat by more than a single score.
Whichever way one looks at it, Choi did his job of getting the Koreans through. But for this second-rate manager, even the steps forward have been painful leaps from shots to the foot.
Under the helm of the former Jeonbuk Motors manager, the Koreans hardly looked like a team that deserved a place in Brazil, their offense lacking pace, purpose and brains and their defense managing to be jumpy and lazy at the same time.
So this football-crazed nation now finds itself in a desperate search for a new coach, who will be shouldered with the unenviable task of rewiring the DNA of its squad just a year away from the ``Big Show.’’
The Korea Football Association (KFA) summoned its technical committee Wednesday to begin the process of finding the new manager. The football governing body is looking at a number of candidates.
Hong Myung-bo, a legend as a player and the manager of Korea’s Olympic squad that won the bronze in the London Games, is a possibility.
Turkish veteran Senol Gunes, who took Turkey to the semifinals in the 2002 World Cup held in Korea and Japan and the coach of FC Seoul in the K League Classic from 2007 to 2009, has an equally strong case. Marcelo Bielsa, formerly with the Argentine and Chilean national teams and Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, is another foreigner garnering attention.
"We have narrowed the candidates to four men. Among them, Hong was first on the list of the technical committee. However, we will proceed with a process and it’s too early to tell whether Hong or anybody else is likely to be named the manager,’’ said KFA Vice Chairman Huh Jung-moo, who refused to confirm the names of the three other candidates.’’
"Yes, there have been talks with Hong about the job.’’
Korea needs a coach who can inspire its promising youngsters, including the Bundesliga trio of Son Heung-min, Koo Ja-cheol and Ji-Dong-won, who engineered the country’s bronze medal run in the London Olympics, something Choi was unable to do.
Hong, 44, has done that before. The 61-year-old Gunes has been credited for the development of former FC Seoul players Park Chu-young, Lee Chung-yong and Ki Sung-yueng, who are now plying their trade in Europe.
The new coach could be named as early as next week. Starting on July 20, Korea will host the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asian Cup, a tournament that will bring together Korea, Japan, Australia and China. There are also a number of international friendlies scheduled between August and November.