Hong Myung-bo, the K League 1 Ulsan HD coach who was nominated as the next head coach of the South Korean national soccer team, has been steadfast in his refusal.
“My stance is always the same, so fans shouldn’t worry about it,” he told reporters before a match against the Pohang Steelers on March 30.
However, when he met Lee Im-sung, the technical director of the Korea Football Association, who was waiting outside his home at 11 p.m. on May 5, Hong suddenly reversed his stance and accepted the offer of the national team’s head coach.
What changed his mind?
With no official word from Hong yet, Lee gave a briefing at the Jongno-gu Football Hall in Seoul on Aug. 8 to reveal how the final negotiations with Hong went.
Lee, who had traveled to Europe to meet with foreign managers such as David Wagner and Gus Poyet, returned to Korea on May 5 and visited Hong at his residence.
The “late-night meeting,” which took place at 11 p.m., was essentially Lee pleading and Hong listening.
Lee’s terms were radical. South Korean soccer’s immediate challenge is the 2026 FIFA World Cup North and Central America. The third qualifying round for the tournament will be held in September.
But Lee has offered to extend his tenure beyond that to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia in January-February 2027.
“We wanted to give them enough time to establish the relevance of the A team to the age-group national teams, rather than evaluating short-term results,” Lee said.
He also promised to provide at least two coaches from Europe, the center of world soccer, to complement Hong’s tactics.
“Coach Hong accepted (these conditions),” Lee said. “I think the link between the A team and the age-group national teams will be beneficial if Hong’s wealth of experience and knowledge is harmonized with the European coaches,” Lee explained.
The salary has also been raised significantly to the level of foreign coaches.
Hong is known to be one of the highest paid coaches in professional soccer’s K League 1. However, even Hong is paid less than coaches in Europe and elsewhere.
“There is a difference between the salaries of foreign coaches and Korean coaches,” Lee says, “and we demanded it. I can’t disclose the amount, but we now have the idea that Korean coaches should be treated as well as foreign coaches,” Lee said.
Beyond these objective conditions, it was the “responsibility” to Korean soccer that disturbed Hong.
Hong is the “hero” of Korean soccer, having led the team to the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup quarterfinals as a player and the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics as a coach.
The success of the Korea-Japan World Cup created many ‘2002 heroes’ like Hong.
However, not many of them are still trying to contribute to Korean soccer on the front lines as coaches.
Hong, who suffered his lowest point as a coach when he was sent home from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil without a win, has remained involved in the game in a number of ways.
He worked as an administrator, including helping to hire former coach Paulo Bento as the executive director of the Korea Football Association, and then took the reins at Ulsan, where he led the club to its first title in 17 years and back-to-back titles to the delight of fans.
It must have been difficult for Hong, who was part of the glory days of South Korean soccer after the Korea-Japan World Cup, to watch the national team falter without a proper head coach.
“I was worried and afraid, ‘Will Coach Hong meet me, will I be able to meet him,'” Lee said, “and when I met him for the first time, I explained my evaluation and decision.”
“I told him why he should dedicate himself to Korean soccer. I asked him to lead the KFA’s philosophy and game model by establishing connections with not only the A-team but also the age-group representatives,” Lee added.
Lee was apparently persuaded by the fact that Hong was the only candidate at the moment with a soccer philosophy that would allow the Korean national team to adapt quickly to the World Cup.
“You’ve seen Ulsan HD soccer. Build-up, create chances, No. 1 in the K League,” Lee said, adding, “I couldn’t help but think about the problem of how to somehow improve the style that the Korean national soccer team has been playing (so far) to get through the third qualifying round and go to the World Cup.” 메이저사이트