“I spoke to him two days before he was hired as head coach…”
The soccer world is in a state of flux after the sacking of Jürgen Klinsmann. Hong Myung-bo has taken over as coach of the South Korean national team and is facing a lot of criticism. The ‘free pass’ controversy hasn”t gone away, even if the Korean Football Association has officially denied it.
Since the firing of Klinsmann, Hong Myung-bo has been at the top of the list for the next national team coach. Given that the Korea Football Association recently announced that “the opinion that if the members of the power strengthening committee were to select a domestic coach (even if he is an incumbent), Hong Myung-bo should be selected was raised from the beginning of the committee’s formation,” it seems that they have been trying to appoint Hong since March, when they insisted on officially appointing a head coach.
However, after Ulsan HD and K-League fans staged a one-man protest in front of the soccer center and faced massive opposition, the club turned to overseas parties. Jesse Machi was in talks with the team, but they fell through, and after Jeong Jung-sung resigned as chairman of the Power Enhancement Committee, Lee Im-sang, the general technical director, took over and handed the baton to Hong Myung-bo.
“Ulsan fans shouldn’t worry,” Hong Myung-bo ruled out the possibility of his appointment to the national team. Two days before the announcement, he said, “There is no reason to meet with engineer Lee Im-saeng,” but after a two-hour conversation, he decided to withdraw his claim and accept the national team head coach position.
Afterward, he faced a lot of criticism. Ulsan and K-League fans were very disappointed and angry after he said, “You abandoned me for the sake of Korean soccer. Hong Myung-bo was criticized so much that he didn’t even hold a press conference after his appointment and traveled to Europe to interview for a foreign coach.
What did Daegu FC coach Park Chang-hyun, who was 파워볼게임 roommates with Hong in the Pohang Steelers, think? When I asked Park about Hong, he slapped his forehead as if he expected it and said, “It hurts my heart to see him (Hong) being criticized.”
“He actually talked to me on the phone two days before he made that decision (to become the national team coach). “I told him I wasn’t going to the national team, and he was like, ‘Why should I go?
As a former teammate, he felt bad that he was being criticized. “But when the announcement came out, the person who was loved by the whole nation was treated like a criminal,” Park said, ”It’s really unfortunate. I want to respect him because it’s his choice, and I wish him well (because he made the choice),” Park said.
“It’s up to the federation to say that the process of appointing the coach was wrong,” he said, adding that he hoped the federation would put the Hong appointment controversy to rest.
Meanwhile, the Football Association posted a lengthy explanation of how Hong was appointed. “The schedule for the European interview with the foreign coach candidate went smoothly, but in the case of Hong Myung-bo, there is a judgment that the interview itself may not be successful because Hong made several remarks against the association in an interview before the K League match a few days ago,” the association explained. ”There are claims that the interview with Hong Myung-bo is a privilege, and if the materials are well prepared, the coach and his agent can be seen as motivated and sincere, but it is not a proof of his ability and competitiveness as a national team coach. In the case of Hong Myung-bo, he has been in charge of the national team, the Olympic team, and recently won two consecutive K League titles during his four years in charge of Ulsan HD.”
