▲ In 2018, coach Paulo Bento will enter Incheon International Airport to assume the post of coach of the Korean national team. Seoul DB Newspaper
It’s already been 4 years. Since we had to progress to the round of 16 at the World Cup, we had to find a good coach. Paulo Ventura has been looking for the former Portuguese national team manager. The career was brilliant and the price was high. When I asked him if I could shave it, he didn’t even snort. He was a very outspoken director.
I couldn’t even negotiate the price and just asked for a good team. He introduced a tactic called “building up” that Korean football didn’t use at the World Cup. I thought, ‘I’ll do something else later’, but in the world, I’ve only accumulated for 4 years. Now there is a voice saying to do something else but there is no answer pretending not to hear. Then, in September last year, in the early stages of the World Cup Asian regional qualifiers, they barely managed to win due to poor performances. At the point of a year before the World Cup, it was cramped, dull and edgy.
“Can you go to the round of 16 of the World Cup with that preparation? When I said, “Stop making something else,” she said, “Do you have to boil enough to make rice, or does uncooked rice make rice if you rush it?”
I was flabbergasted and said, “No, you mean just accumulation for 3 years? Director, you are stubborn. The World Cup is just around the corner”. So the director did not break his stubbornness, saying: “But I can’t give up my current style.”
It was hard to switch directors because there wasn’t much time, so I had no choice but to give up and give up.
“Then, do as you please.”
“Well, if you keep going, it gets rougher and slower. Tactics should be done correctly, but can we change them? It’s a bit loose language. And get ready for another year of construction.
With English Premier League (EPL) top scorer Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and “monstrous defender” Kim Min-jae (Napoli), I thought I could make it to the round of 16 this time, but it looked like I had to commit to the next World Cup, so that was unpleasant. . Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), who is said to be the future of Korean football, is also not writing because he doesn’t fit the style. “Do you dare to be a director like that? He is a rude and blunt manager ”. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I got tired of watching it and became a spectator.
After four years of construction, it only looked like something had been done just shortly before the World Cup in Qatar. And when the World Cup started in Qatar and I played, it was crazy that the national team was doing well. It’s better than what I used to make, it’s really good. Can you meet a manager who prepares strategies and tactics with such consistency? I regretted my attitude towards the director. “I’m sorry, Director Bento. Good work.”
Reporter Kim Dong Hyun
