The search for a new national coach is coming to a head.
Lee Im-sang, the Korean Football Association’s (KFA) technical director who took over from resigned power-enhancement chairman Chung Eui-sung, left for Europe on Tuesday. For face-to-face interviews. The outlines of the candidates who will meet in person have been revealed. “Lee will meet with former Greece national team coach Gus Poyet (57) and former Norwich City manager David Wagner (53),” an official familiar with the soccer world told Sports Chosun.
Chung announced his resignation on June 28, The panicked KFA decided that it could no longer delay the selection of the A team’s coach and entrusted the role to Lee Im-sang, who has already presided over the first video conference with the entire committee on June 30. However, some of the “old guard” members were not present, which led to a series of resignations. The ‘Jeong Sung-ho All-Powerful Committee’, which has been sailing since February, 토토사이트 has effectively collapsed.
In an atmosphere of embarrassment, there was no time to delay. Lee continued to move according to the set timetable: He decided to meet with the highly ranked foreign candidates in person. Initially, he met with them virtually. However, he reportedly clashed with the KFA head over the need for face-to-face meetings. This is why Lee traveled to Europe so quickly. With time constraints preventing him from meeting with many candidates, he narrowed it down to Poyet and Wagner.
Poyet was one of 12 candidates, including domestic coaches. At the ninth meeting, where the 12 candidates were evaluated, he reportedly received the highest score among foreign candidates, along with Iraqi coach Jesús Casas. Uruguayan coach Poyet is a former star player who played for Chelsea and Tottenham during his playing days. After retiring from football in 2004, Poyet turned to coaching and took over at Brighton in 2009. After leading the team to the Ligue 1 (third division) title in 2010-2011 and a fourth-place finish in the Championship in 2012-2013, Poyet took over at Sunderland, then playing in the English Premier League, in October 2013. He turned around the relegation zone and led them to a 14th-place finish and a runner-up finish in the League Cup. Poyet made a strong impression on domestic fans, especially by utilizing Ki Sung-yueng on loan.
After resigning from Sunderland in 2015 due to poor results, Poyet has coached AEK Athens in Greece, Real Betis in Spain, Shanghai Shenhua in China, Bordeaux in France and Catolica in Chile. He was most recently in charge of the Greek national team. His experience in the so-called big leagues of England, Spain, and France, as well as his national team experience, makes him an attractive candidate. He also has a connection to Korea through Ki Sung-yong. However, it’s unlikely that the KFA will accept the asking price. There’s also the fact that he’s from Uruguay, a country that has been plagued by racism, including the recent Rodrigo Ventancourt case.
Wagner was not among the original 12 candidates. At the 10th meeting, four more candidates were added, one of which was Wagner. It was reportedly recommended by a member of the minority faction A, who had opposed former Ulsan coach Kim Do-hoon, who was considered a strong candidate among the domestic faction. Although he was a late addition, he made the shortlist. Wagner is said to be strongly supported by some in the KFA hierarchy.
Wagner, who was born in Germany but chose to play for the United States, was an average player in the first and second Bundesliga. After retiring, he followed his “best friend” Jürgen Klopp to become the head coach of Dortmund 2. He showed promise and was appointed as Huddersfield’s first non-Commonwealth manager in 2015. Wagner led the club to an improbable promotion in the 2016-2017 season, followed by a stay in the following year. After leaving Huddersfield in 2019, Wagner went on to manage Germany’s Schalke and Switzerland’s Young Boys, but failed to make a significant impact. He most recently managed Norwich City in the Championship. He also coached Hwang Eui-jo at Norwich City.
Wagner’s low salary is one of his advantages. However, his recent career has been in a downward spiral, and he has no national team coaching experience.
Lee will continue to interview domestic coaching candidates after returning home. Based on the results of Lee’s interviews, the KFA plans to select a final candidate through a comprehensive evaluation with the existing candidate, Australian coach Graham Arnold.
