A Korean football official newly put in charge of the men’s national team coaching search will depart for Europe this week to interview foreign-born candidates for the vacant position, officials said Monday.
Lee Lim-saeng, technical director at the Korea Football Association (KFA), is scheduled to meet with about a handful of candidates once he travels to Europe, KFA officials said.
Previously, Chung Hae-sung, as head of the KFA’s National Teams Committee, had been leading the effort to hire the new bench boss for the men’s national team. However, Chung abruptly resigned Friday, citing health-related reasons, though his apparent clashes with KFA President Chung Mong-gyu might have been the real reason behind his sudden departure.
Chung Hae-sung had been responsible for narrowing down and interviewing candidates, and he and his committee members had been leaning toward hiring a Korean coach. But the final say still belonged to Chung Mong-gyu, who is believed to have been in favor of hiring a foreign-born tactician.
The top men’s coaching job has remained unoccupied since 토토 the KFA dismissed Jurgen Klinsmann on Feb. 16, in light of Korea’s elimination in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup — a tournament that the country had tried to win for the first time since 1960.
Korea played two World Cup qualifying matches in March under caretaker manager Hwang Sun-hong, who was head coach of the men’s under-23 national team at the time.
Chung Hae-sung then set out to find the new permanent replacement for Klinsmann by the middle of May at the latest. But the KFA was not able to come to an agreement with its leading candidate, former Leeds United coach Jesse Marsch. The American tactician signed with the Canadian men’s national team instead.
