Reporter Han Bing reported that the coach of the South Korean team is still vacant! In April, the Korean Football Association circled 11 candidates, including four local coaches and seven foreign coaches, and narrowed the scope to four last week, but the absence of former Saudi Arabian French coach Hainach among the candidates caused dissatisfaction among Korean media and fans.
Heinach is familiar enough with West Asian football, which the South Korean team fears, and is the most suitable candidate. The current coach of the French women's football team has offered to coach on his own initiative, and has even agreed to live in South Korea for a long time and bring as little coaching staff as possible during his tenure, and there is room for negotiation on salary. However, Jung Hae-sung, the chairman of the technical committee who went to Europe for an "interview", was unable to respond to the appointment due to Hainahy's adjustment of the original meeting date, and has returned to China, and theoretically, the Korean Football Association has given up on Hainahe.
Also abandoned, there is also the Turkish veteran coach Güneş. Last Friday, Turkish media Photo spor revealed that Chung Mong-kyu, the president of the Korean Football Association, thinks Güneş is too old to be too interested in him. The outlet said Güneş had met with Mr. Zheng in Istanbul in April. Güneş coached FC Seoul from 2007-2009 and is very familiar with Korean football. During his tenure, although he did not win a trophy, his attacking football style was highly recognized. There are reports that Güneš could become the new boss of Besiktas.
The other 3 candidates, neither the Korean media nor the fans "approve". American coach Marsh has led international Huang Xichan in Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig from 2019 to 2021, and former Wolves Portuguese coach Raj also coached Huang Xichan, who transferred to Wolves for 16 months. The pair have never coached in an Asian first team, with Raj coaching Dubai Nationals from 2012 to 2014, assisting Flores and Olaroyo. As for the knowledge of Korean football, it is limited to Hwang Hee-chan. Moreover, Marsh and Raj also have other offers, and South Korea is not the only option.
Mexico coach Sergio Aguirre is currently in charge of La Liga Mallorca and will not be able to leave until at least the end of the season. Aguirre succeeded Lazzaroni as Japan coach after the 2014 World Cup. However, in the 2015 Asian Cup, the Japanese team, which won all 3 games in the group stage and kept clean sheets against their opponents, was eliminated by the UAE in the quarterfinals. Because he was involved in the Zaragoza match-fixing case at the time, he was immediately dismissed by the Japanese Football Association. His knowledge of Asian football was almost 10 years ago.
The high salary requirements of foreign coaches are an important reason for the difficult birth of the new coach of the South Korean team. Marsh earns a whopping £3.5 million a year at Leeds, double Klinsmann ($2.2 million); Raj earns £1.5 million a year at Wolves; Aguirre was paid $2.5 million a year when he became the head coach of Japan 10 years ago and is currently earning 900,000 euros a year in Mallorca.
The senior management of the Korean Football Association revealed that the annual salary budget of the new coach is limited and difficult, and the Korean media said that the annual salary budget prepared by the Korean Football Association for the new coach is between 1.5 million and 2 million US dollars before tax. In addition, due to the dismissal of Klinsmann at the beginning of the year, South Korea has to pay $7.5 million in liquidated damages; The construction of the Cheonan Training Center has been delayed, and the cost has increased considerably. The Korean Football Association just borrowed 30 billion won (about 22 million US dollars) from the bank at the beginning of the year, and will repay 39 billion won (about 28.5 million US dollars) in the next 10 years with interest.
The 4 foreign marshals who entered the final shortlist have their own shortcomings, and Tushuai lacks interest. Originally, Hong Myung-fu was the biggest favorite, but he rejected the Korean Football Association early, and the national Olympic coach Hwang Sun-hong was even more unlikely due to the U23 Asian Cup fiasco. In such a predicament, it is not ruled out that in the round of 36 in June, the South Korean team will also use the temporary coach to fight the fire.