No 2026 for Bento…2027 for Hong Myung-bo
[Sporting News] After being criticized throughout his tenure for the defeat to South Korea and his player selection, Paulo Bento turned the tide of public opinion against him at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Bento’s South Korea played high-pressing, intricate build-up football that drove the likes of Uruguay and Portugal back into their own half. After four years and four months of enduring criticism, Bento’s style of soccer paid off, reaching the round of 16 at the World Cup. It was a double whammy of performance and results.
South Korea’s performance in the World Cup knockout stage has set the stage for the 2023 Asian Cup and the 2026 North and Central American World Cup. Re-signing Bento seemed like a no-brainer. The Korea Football Association also sat down to negotiate with Bento.
However, the negotiations broke down and Bento left South Korea after organizing his life in Ilsan, where he had been living.
The difference between the two sides was the length of the contract. In the two contract negotiations, Bento wanted a guaranteed four-year contract until the 2026 North and Central American World Cup, while the KFA wanted to sign him until the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and then extend his contract based on performance.
Bento himself said in an interview with Portuguese media outlet Hecord that he decided to step down as coach of the South Korean national team because of differences over the length of his contract.
After parting ways with Bento, the Korea Football Association appointed Jürgen Klinsmann as head coach. His contract runs until the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America. That’s the length of time Bento wanted.
However, Klinsmann’s tenure with the team ended after 11 months. At the end of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar, the Korean Football Association sacked Klinsmann, blaming him for the team’s quarterfinal exit. The South Korean team struggled in the group stage of the tournament, with Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in getting into a physical altercation.
The way Klinsmann conducted his job was also an issue: despite the announcement that he would be based in South Korea with Bento, Klinsmann spent a lot of time abroad. “Paju (the national team’s training center) is close to North Korea, and I felt uneasy about it,” he said in an interview after stepping down.
The fallout from Klinsmann’s dismissal was not small. To fire Klinsmann, whose contract ran through 2026, the team had to pay him the rest of his salary. Add to that the penalties for the coaches Klinsmann had brought in, and the cost was even higher. Given the limited budget of the KFA and the fact that a large part of the 2024 budget is dedicated to the construction of the Korea Football 카지노 커뮤니티 Center, the penalty would have been an obstacle to hiring a new coach.
After parting ways with Klinsmann, the KFA announced on Aug. 8 that it had selected Ulsan HD head coach Hong Myung-bo as its next head coach after a five-month search.
His contract will run through the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America and the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia in January 2027. In the unlikely event that the team fails to qualify for the World Cup in North and Central America, he will remain in charge until the Asian Cup.
Some have criticized the negotiation process with Bento for giving Klinsmann and Hong Myung-bo long contracts. They argue that the criticism that has been directed at the Korean Football Association since Klinsmann’s appointment would not have happened if they had re-signed Bento in the first place.
It was also reported that the reason for the breakdown of the contract negotiations was that Bento was asking for too much money. However, Bento’s salary in the United Arab Emirates is $1.9 million. That’s less than the $1.9 million Klinsmann earned.