Japan and South Korea, which Chinese fans are relatively concerned about, have completely opposite directions in the selection of future national team coaches: the Korean Football Association prefers to continue to hire foreign coaches, while the Japan Football Association is rea

Reporter Han Bing reported With the resignation of Poland coach Mihniewicz, 9 coaches from the top 32 of the World Cup have resigned. Among the six participating teams in Asia, only Paul Bento of South Korea has resigned. The fate of Queiroz of Iran and Yasuichi Mori of Japan is uncertain. The coaches of other teams are temporarily safe. Japan and South Korea, which Chinese fans are relatively concerned about, have completely opposite directions in the selection of future national team coaches: the Korean Football Association prefers to continue to hire foreign coaches, while the Japanese Football Association is ready to renew the contract with local coach Yasuichi Mori until 2026.

South Korea’s coaching process is released

After leaving South Korea and returning to Portugal, Paulo Bento only confided his feelings to the Portuguese media on the 24th. He emphasized that he had already entered into contract renewal negotiations with the Korean Football Association as early as April this year. He wanted a four-year contract until the 2026 World Cup, but the Korean Football Association was unwilling to sign a long-term contract. The two sides held the last round of negotiations in September, but no progress was made. Bento informed the Korean team players before the World Cup that they would leave after the game.

The Korean Football Association has begun the selection process for a new coach following the departure of Paulo Bento. On December 13, Korean Football Association Chairman Chung Mong-kyu held a council meeting to launch the first batch of candidates based on the standards determined in December last year. The candidates were interviewed in January and negotiated one by one based on the interview results in February. Before the international match in March, the South Korean team will determine the 81st head coach in team history.

Although insiders of the Korean Football Association revealed that there has been no discussion yet on whether to continue to hire foreign coaches or choose local coaches, but in view of Paul Bento's successful experience, the voice of hiring European foreign coaches has prevailed. The World Cup allowed the Korean football community to see the gap with Japan. The gap between 16th and 9th place is not only reflected in the number of overseas players (8 to 19), but also in the difference in tactical systems. When it comes to building a national tactical system, Koreans are more willing to trust European coaches. After Hiddink in 2002, the Korean team has hired 4 Dutch, 2 Portuguese and 1 German. This time, foreign coaches will be given priority, and European coaches will be given priority instead of South American coaches. Celtics coach Postgioglu, who is familiar with Asian football , and Croatian coach Skocic, who left Iran before the World Cup, have all been mentioned by the media.

However, some people believe that the Korean team should trust local coaches more. The reason is that in 2010, it only took two years for Xu Dingmao to lead the team to the top 16 of the World Cup. Candidates currently mentioned by the media include former Korean Olympic team coach Kim Hak-beom, current Vietnam team coach Park Hang-seo and Gangwon FC coach Choi Yong-soo. Kim Hak-bum's advantage is that he led Son Heung-min and others to win the championship at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018, and led the team to the top 8 at the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is familiar with this generation of Korean players and has enough prestige. Park Hang-seo's contract with the Vietnamese team expires at the end of January next year, and his success in Vietnam is obvious to all.

Mori Yasuichi is basically determined to fight again in 2026

Although Japan Football Association Chairman Tajima Kozo claimed that he would meet with Mori Yasuichi to discuss the issue of whether to stay or leave after the New Year, "Sports News" revealed in advance on the 24th: The Japan Football Association has proposed to Mori Yasuichi to renew his contract. Although Mori Yasuichi failed to achieve the Japanese team 's pre-match goal of the World Cup top eight, its consecutive wins over Germany and Spain and qualifying from the group of death also exceeded the expectations of the Japanese football community. Moreover, the failure to enter the top 8 was also due to luck. The Japanese team only lost in a penalty shootout.

According to the usual practice, the Japan Football Association will grant a two-year contract extension. Previously, the media expected Moriyasu to get a one-year contract. Only when the Japanese team achieves outstanding results in the Asian Cup at the end of the year will Moriyasu get a longer contract extension. But Mori Yasuichi hopes to get a four-year contract. Japanese Kyodo News yesterday confirmed that Japanese Football Association Chairman Tajima Kozo and Mori Yasuichi have reached an agreement in principle. He will become the first coach in the history of the Japanese team to lead the team to two consecutive World Cups.

Japan Football Association Technical Committee Chairman Sorimachi Koji hopes to announce the head coach candidate in advance to facilitate the Japanese team's preparation for next year's international competitions. In 2010, due to the visa issue of Italian coach Zaccheroni, he was unable to take office in time. It was Hiroshi Hara, then chairman of the Japan Football Association Technical Committee, who temporarily put out the fire and led the team to play a warm-up match against Paraguay and Guatemala in September. Sorimachi Koji expressed the hope that the Japanese team will have a coach candidate in March, so that he will not follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Hiromi Hara. The new coach candidate recommended by the technical committee before the World Cup was the famous Argentine coach Bielsa , but in the end the Japan Football Association chose to renew the contract with Mori Yasuichi.

The Japanese Football Association announced the Japanese national team schedule for the March 2023 international match. The Kirin Challenge Cup continues at Tokyo National Arena . The Japan Football Association hopes to contact the top 20 football powers in the world to warm up. The national team plans to play 10 international matches throughout the year, including the second round of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers starting in November. However, because European teams will play in the 2024 European Cup qualifiers in March, the Japan Football Association hopes to contact Brazil, Argentina, or the United States, Mexico, Morocco and Senegal to warm up.