 National team coach Huh Jung-moo talks to reporters during a press conference at the Korea Football Association headquarters in Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Kim Joo-young |
Staff reporter
South Korean football team coach Huh Jung-moo, who led the country to its first top 16 spot at a World Cup on foreign soil, announced Friday he would step down from the position after his term of two and a half years.
"I'm out of competition for the job," Huh said in a press conference at the Korea Football Association (KFA) headquarters.
"I've reached this early decision so the KFA won't have much burden in choosing the next national team coach."
The 55-year-old, who succeeded Pim Verbeek in December 2007 to take the helm of the Taeguk Warriors, added he will have some "refreshing time" following resignation.
Huh was expected to have a fair chance to stretch his time as the local sports-governing body appeared to be in favor of him.
Earlier in South Africa, KFA President Cho Chung-yun hinted at his preference for Huh by saying it's about time "an experienced local coach led the squad on a long-term basis."
Huh, however, opted for pulling out of the job.
"It's not exactly resignation because my contract expired at the end of the Korean World Cup campaign," he said. "I'm content with what the national team has achieved this time. Now I would like some time to recharge with my family."
His future hasn't been officially confirmed yet, but possible choices include a comeback to the local K-League or jobs related to developing youth talent in the sport.
The KFA will convene a technical committee meeting next week to start to choose candidates for the next coach.
Currently, the national team's assistant coach Jung Hae-sung and U-23 team coach Hong Myung-bo are named as favorites, but Hong is reportedly declining to take the position.
"It's surely an honor, but it doesn't seem to be the right time for me," the former football star told Sports Seoul, a local sports newspaper.
Huh took South Korea to a World Cup top 16 spot in his third time with the national team. The former PSV Eindhoven player first took the post briefly in 1995, but went back to the K-League's Chunnam Dragons just months later.
As his side became the runner-up in the league and won the FA Cup title in 1997, Huh became an abrupt replacement for Cha Bum-kun after the 1998 World Cup, where Cha was sacked from the job following a shocking 5-0 setback to the Netherlands in the group stage.
At that time, Huh took control over the 2000 Olympic squad as well. But a series of disheartening results in 2000 forced him to step down again in December that year.
The Olympic team managed a 2-0-1 record in the first round in Sydney, but was eliminated on goal difference behind Chile and Spain. Later in the year, South Korea ended in third place at the AFC Asian Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
Since Huh's second resignation, the South Korean team had been with foreign coaches before he resumed the post in 2007.
Guss Hiddink led the national team until the 2002 World Cup, where South Korea took the entire world by surprise in a semifinal run, and Umberto Coelho, Johannes Bonfrere and Dick Advocaat took the helm before Verbeek.
Huh's leadership showed that Korean football can compete on a par with global powerhouses with local coaches, and that's what he also wished for in his successor.
"There are many great coaches in Korea, and I believe any one of them who leads the squad will be successful," he said.
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